Twist of Fate
by Beautifully Tragic1987
Summary: Was a one-shot, but now I've decided to continue with it    What happens when Rose gets an unexpected visitor while she awaits trial. What will ensue? Takes place after Spirit Bound.
1. Chapter 1

Last Sacrifice

** This is my first fan-fic so please be nice. Right now it's just going to be a one-shot, but I'm thinking about expanding this, and possibly changing the title. Let me know what you think. We're just gonna rate this M, b/c who knows what the future holds for this =) I don't own anything but my imaginings. Richelle Mead owns all the wonderful characters...including Dimitri :(**

I laid on my bed staring at the same pattern on the ceiling of my cell for God only knew how long. The pattern wasn't actually a pattern so much as a series of cracks that led into the cell next to mine which I couldn't see into. My mind was going a million miles a minute. Why in the world would I be the person Queen Tatiana would leave something for? I mean, she did seem friendlier than usual, but seriously, I wasn't delusional enough to think that she would trust me to do anything, let alone try to help Lissa. I kept re-reading the note that Ambrose slipped me at my "pre-trial" over and over again in my head. One part kept flashing in front of my like a neon sign: _She is not the last Dragomir_.

Lissa had a brother or sister, well half-brother or half-sister. It made sense now, all the information I had gathered with my talk to Sydney. The same talk, ironically, that kept me from that party with Adrian that would have kept me out of the cell I was in now. Eric, Lissa's dad, had been dumping money into an account in Vegas that he bent over backwards to cover up. He'd also been a huge fan of the ladies- ladies which were in fact Moroi women that worked at casinos as dancers. Giving their slim build and height, it made them ideal candidates as the dancing types. It was also thought, at least by Adrian's dad, that he had a mistress there in Vegas, which I hadn't believed at first. I hadn't connected the dots before, but after reading that note from the Queen for the thousandth time, it all clicked. If I ever got the chance to get out of this hell hole alive, I'd make my way to Vegas to check there first. Hopefully someone there would have a clue where to find this lost relative of Lissa's; it was a long shot, but I had nothing else to go on. Maybe one of the dancers there would know.

Of course, there was the obvious fact that I probably wouldn't see the outside of this cell until my walk to my trial that would probably get me an execution sentence. Stupid complications. Of course I would get that stupid note when I had no power whatsoever to do anything about it. I couldn't even get a note to Adrian to help me. Although, he'd probably involve Lissa so maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that I couldn't get a note to him. Ugh-where was Abe when I needed him? Abe was my mobster father, who I didn't find out was actually related to me until after my stint in Siberia hunting down Dimitri while he was still a Strigoi. He also couldn't get me out of going to trial either after he fought to be my counsel. Some counsel. Although, he was useful in other ways: getting messages in and out of prisons. Like when he got that message to Victor Dashkov inquiring about his spirit using brother, Robert Doru.  
That was a fruitful mission. We (meaning me, Lissa, and our friend Eddie) broke Victor out of Tarasov, a highly guarded prison that moved around depending on the time of year, only to lose him when we were attacked by Strigoi led by Dimitri while he was still one of them. But although we failed epically, we did get some very useful information out of that blunder-how to use spirit to restore a Strigoi back to life. That came in real handy when Dimitri used Lissa as bait to get to me; and during the rescue mission I went on with the other guardians to retrieve her, she used that information (which she'd planned on doing and had been successfully hiding from me) to restore my former instructor and lover back into a dhampir. Of course her healing him earned his undying devotion to protecting and serving her, and had him telling _me_ to stay away from him, which to me hardly seemed fair, but after telling me his love had "faded" for me, I had tried to give up on loving him and start loving Adrian. It had sort of worked too until the next day when I went to a little cafè to get something to eat and saw Dimitri, which wasn't the breaking point to my efforts. Him trying to protect me from the Royal Guard that tried to arrest me before I made him stop so he wouldn't wind up where I found myself now, however, was. But that was neither here nor there. I was still in a horrible predicament, which was how I was going to find that long lost sibling, even if it was only a half-brother or half-sister, especially if I was locked up in here for the rest of eternity. If only I had someone I could trust to help me with this that wouldn't involve Lissa.

The sounds of voices and footsteps brought me out of my reverie. As I took my eyes off the ceiling I got the weirdest feeling of deja vù. Standing at my cell looking in was Dimitri. It was as if we had switched places. It was weird enough that I was in his old cell, but now...definitely weird.

"No," one word was all I said, deja vù really setting in.

A small smile spread across Dimitri's face, like the ones I used to get during our before school practices when I said something he found funny.

"No? I haven't asked anything yet. Shouldn't you wait until I've asked something?" Something glinted in his eyes that was gone before I could place it. I knew he was remembering when Mikhail had snuck me down here to see him when he was in the same position I found myself in now-locked up.

"No, and shouldn't I be the one making the smart-ass comments? You're kind of stealing my thunder here." I rolled my eyes, "What I meant is no-I'm not going to let you ruin your already fragile freedom by coming down here and doing whatever the hell it is you're actually doing."

Something came to me suddenly.

"Speaking of which, what exactly are you doing down here? What, the frosty atmosphere out there making you wish you were in here again? Well, I hate to break it to you comrade, but your cell's occupied, or haven't you noticed?"

His smile grew a little at that. "Glad to see that being locked in a cell for a few days hasn't dampened your sense of humor any. Only you could still remain stoically sarcastic while awaiting a trial that would probably lead to your death."

"Well, you know me, I'm nothing if not consistent. You still haven't answered my question, what are you doing down here? If I remember correctly, you wanted me to stay away from you, a fact that we were discussing when I got arrested."

He shot me a dry look at the reminder, "I came here to spring you, isn't that obvious?"

I laughed for the first time in days, "Ah good one. I never knew you were this funny. Are you planning on becoming a stand-up comedian?"

He crossed his arms over his chest and gave me a look saying that he really didn't think it was funny. Then, it clicked.

I shot up into a sitting a position. "What? You have got to be kidding me! There is no way you are taking me anywhere. You got that? I'd rather stay here."

He let out an aggravated sigh, one that reminded me so much of the Dimitri I had fallen in love with. The Dimitri that would fight so hard to make me see the logical side of things when I wanted nothing more than to be illogical, "Rose, you're being ridiculous. There's no way I'm going to let you stay here. You think that they're just going to let you sit here and actually get to a trial? You'll be lucky if you get to see the outside of this prison again. The only way to make sure you're safe is to get you out now while we can. Now stop being childish and let me get you out of here."

My control snapped at that, "Why do you care? Love fades, remember? You told me that about a week ago during that church service I crashed to see you after _your_ constant steadfast refusal to see _me_. And maybe love does fade, maybe yours has, but I can't just put _my_ love on some shelf somewhere as an arrant thought that I once had. So I'm begging you, if you ever felt love for me, if there's even the tiniest spark left in your heart somewhere for me," I swallowed past the lump in my throat, swallowing the remainder of my pride with it, defeat showing on my face, " please leave. Just leave and don't come back."

"Rose, I-"

"Dimitri, don't." I laid back and started staring at the ceiling again, lacing my hands behind my head.

"Oh, and tell Lissa to stop with the escape attempts. I'm not leaving. And if her, or anyone else tries anything, I may just have to do something drastic. It was nice seeing you though; it'll definitely give me something interesting to think about when I get too bored," I said, my man-eating smile plastered on my face.

Dimitri looked flustered but still had that guardian mask in place. Leave it to Dimitri to still look bad ass while being flustered. "How did you know? She said she was able to keep you from finding things out most times."

"Well I wouldn't know if she can or not, but I guess she can; I can't really notice what she's hiding when she's hiding things."

"So, how did you know it was Lissa that sent me here, and not me coming on my own?"

"Well, it could have only been your devotion to Lissa that would send you on a mission like this. Come on comrade, you've got to give me a little more credit than that." I smiled wistfully, trying to keep the sorrow from my eyes," You've made it abundantly clear you want nothing to do with me." I closed my eyes to keep the tears from flowing.

I heard him sigh before I heard his footsteps as he left me and returned to the land of the living.

**So what do you think? Like? Dislike? Continue? Leave it alone? I'm open to suggestions =) So please R&R! **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Okay so by popular demand, I am continuing this story =) Thanks to everyone who reviewed or added this story. You all are AWESOME! And as always, I own nothing but the idea, Richelle Mead owns everything else. Enjoy =)**

If I tried hard enough, I could tell you at exactly what time each shift ended and on what days which guardians were on each shift. Wow, pretty pathetic but what else is there to do when you wind up in a jail cell. That being said, I was a little shocked when two new guardians began guarding my cell on the third shift. They looked vaguely familiar, but I was a little preoccupied to notice, you know trying to figure how to get the hell out of here and all. I kept going through plans that would always end in me definitely getting caught. For instance, I thought about attacking the guards directly outside my cell, but that wouldn't work because there were two of them and I couldn't take on both of them with bars separating me from them. And on the off chance that I actually could take out both guards and get out without an alarm of some sort being raised, there were all the guardians posted on different levels to get through too. So I immediately threw that out that idea. Most of them were like that, so unless some miracle happened and they either let me go, which was doubtful, or the wall in my cell was blown out so I could make a break for it, I was definately stuck here.

I glanced at the guards again. What was so familiar about them? I could have sworn I'd seen them before. I pushed it out of my mind once again and thought of the one thing I definately shouldn't think about in my present predicament: Dimitri. I kept repeating his visit over in my head. The way the light caught his hair, his absurd mission to get me out of here, the way he joked with me, well at least in his way of joking. Yeah, like I would have believed he came here on his own. Then I thought back to old memories I held dear, ones that helped me get through my stint in Russia, like all of our trainings, trips we had taken, and the last night we were together at the cabin. And that thought immediately brought me to Adrian.

Ah, Adrian. What in the hell was I going to do about that? There was no way that Dimitri would ever give me the time of day now. But could I really put aside my feelings for him and focus on Adrian? I had tried, but not even twenty-four hours after making up my mind to do just that, I see Dimitri and go all weak in the knees. Damn that man! What in the hell was so compelling about him? And as if the guilt was some sort of trigger or something, I was sucked into an Adrian dream.

I must have fallen asleep during my trip down memory lane. We were at the lodge where we had first met, and Adrian was leaning up against the porch post just like the first time I had met him, only this time we weren't bundled up. He was wearing a blue button down shirt and some khakis, and as I looked down at what he had me in, I wasn't the least bit suprised. I was wearing a black dress like the one I was wearing the night me and Dimitri succumbed to the lust charm and some black heels.

"Hey little dhampir, long time no see."

I shot him a look, "Really? Couldn't be that I've been locked up for the past week could it?"

He started grinning, "Someone's testy. Could it be that someone got a visit from a certain former mentor today?"

I had been looking at the porch, but my head shot up when he said that, "What? How did you know?"

His grin fell a little, "Well you aura, remember I can see those."

"Yeah, kind of forgot about that. So what can I do you for? Are you here for a specific reason, or did you just miss the pleasure of my company that much that you couldn't just come down here and see me, but had to dream walk?"

"Funny, I forgot how charming you can be sometimes after a Dimitri meeting." He looked away from me for the first time, "I'm actually here to say good-bye."

"What? Good-bye? Where in the hell are you going?"

"I'd rather not say. I'm having a few things packed, and I'm heading out on my own for once. I know this is bad timing, but I thought you should know I was leaving."

"Bad timing? Bad timing would have been walking in when I just found out my cat got ran over. This, this is horrible timing. What, you know I'm going to get executed don't you? You know I'm going to get executed and you don't want to stick around and be a witness to it. Then fine. Go. I don't want you here any way."

His eyes shot back to me, "Obviously. You don't think I don't see the way you're thinking about Dimitri even now when I'm trying to get just a few minutes of your time to tell you good-bye? You know, Rose, the world does't revolve around you. Other people have lives too you know. We can't just devote all of our time and energy on you. You're so selfish, especially going and doing this to Lissa. I thought you were supposed to protect her. What good are you doing for her locked up here rotting to wait on a trial that's just more of a formality at this point?"

"Selfish? I'm being selfish? Yeah Adrian, I purposely framed myself so I could have all the attention. You're such a jack ass sometimes. And I am protecting Lissa. That's all I've ever done and if you think differently you can just kiss my ass. I'm not going to defend my past to you or anybody. And I _was_ thinking about Dimitri. I was trying to find a way to let go so I can be with you, not that you care. You want to talk about selfish-take a look in a mirror. One of your friends is in need and the first thing you do is pack your shit and leave. Well go. Just keep walking and don't you dare come back. I see where your loyalties lie, now get me out of here. I don't want to talk to you anymore."

"Rose-,"

"NOW DAMN IT!"

"Fine!"

I shot up into a sitting position after waking myself up. The nerve of that jerk. I sat there fuming for a few minutes until I realized that there was something different about my cell. I looked up to find the two guardians opening the door to my cell holding a pair of cuffs to put on me. If I was correct, it was the middle of the night for the moroi which meant that it was daytime for the humans. It also meant that I shouldn't be going anywhere since any trial I would be having would be during the moroi day which would be nighttime for the humans. My heart started to accelerate a little bit. This couldn't be good.

"So what's going on? Where are you taking me?"

The taller of the two guardians shot me a look, "It's not for you to know. All you need to know is that someone's expecting you."

"Well what if I don't want to go with you. What then?" I started sizing up the two guardians to see if I could find an opening.

"Well Ms. Hathaway, you can do it the easy way by coming with us willingly, or you can try to get a leg up on us like you're thinking about doing and see where that gets you." He smiled at me and I had a sudden feeling of deja vú that disappeared as quickly as it began.

I let them cuff me and lead me out. We walked right passed all of the guardians and not one of them seemed to think anything was amiss, that it was weird that I was being led out of my cell when I couldn't possibly be going anywhere that was court sanctioned. They led me out of the guardian building where the cells were into the parking garage and into a car. My heart beat picked up. So this was it. I really wasn't going to make it to my trial. I was going to be executed without it actually being decided on by the court. Well if they were going to execute me, I wasn't going to go down without a fight.

They opened up the car door and placed me in the back seat. One got in after me and sat down, the other one walked around the car and sat on the other side of me. I was just biding my time to make my move, but when I did, they were going to be very surprised. They shouldn't expect anything less than that, especially if they knew Dimitri. I was trained by the most bad ass guardian around, giving up wasn't in my nature. I was a hit first, ask questions later type of person. In fact it was coined the Rose Hathaway method of interrogation at St. Vladimir's during my senior year.

The driver, which I couldn't see, started up the car and drove right out of the Court. No one stopped us like I'd hoped they would because they'd come to their senses and realized that they just let the only suspect in the Queen's murder go. Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for getting out of prison, but if it came down to it I'd rather rot away in a cell than get taken somewhere to get executed. Apparently they weren't as unaware of my reputation as I had first thought because I noticed a forth person in the car, sitting in the passenger seat. They must have really thought this through. I saw my chance of escape slowly dwindling as I realized that I wouldn't be able to take on four people all at once. I was fixing to tell them to pull over and just get it over with when the driver spoke up.

"Well, you're taking this a lot better than I thought you would Rose."

My eyes shot to the driver, "Abe? What in the hell is going on? Where are you taking me?"

"I told you that you wouldn't be going to trial, so I thought this would be pretty obvious. I'm getting you out of jail. I thought you'd be happier."

"Well you could have at least told me you were going to do this. It sure would have saved me the heart attack I almost just suffered."

The passenger spoke up, "What did you think was going on Rose? Did you think you were going on some joy ride?"

My eyes immediately shot over to the passenger and I looked right into the face of Dimitri.

**So, like? Dislike? I know Adrian seems a bit out of character and all, but I promise he's not as heartless or a jerk like I'm making him sound. There's a reason. So R&R and lemme know that you want me to keep the chappies coming.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I couldn't believe it. Dimitri was the passenger? Did I miss something? Did the cosmic powers that be think that this would be some kind of an awesome joke to play on me, because honestly I didn't think it was all that funny. Actually I thought me getting hit by a car would be funnier. I stared at Dimitri for what seemed like forever but was actually only a few seconds.  
"What are _you_ doing here? Don't you have the ground that Lissa walks on to worship? Not that she actually likes you doing it but she's just too polite to tell you that. So let me do it for her, she doesn't like it."  
"Enough, you two can battle out your feelings later," Abe shot me a look through the rear view mirror, "Right now we have more important things to discuss other than whether or not you two can keep your clothes on in each other's presence."  
I shot Dimitri a look, "Trust me, that's not an issue anymore. Is it Dimitri?"  
Dimitri just shot me a look back and turned to talk to Abe, "So what's the plan now?"  
Abe thought about it for a second, "Well, first we're going to somewhere to camp out for a few days, then we'll go from there. I have to say Belikov, I'm a little shocked that you came on this rescue mission of sorts. You seem like the 'always follow the rules' type."  
A small smile crept onto Dimitri's face, "You'd be suprised, people aren't always what they seem," He looked quickly at Abe then back at the road, " Rose is innocent so I had to do what I could to make sure she had a chance. Speaking of which, why was it so easy for you to accept help from Mr. Mazur, yet you refused to come with me earlier today?"  
"Well if you must know, I really didn't accept their help. It's not like I knew they were there to spring me. In fact, comrade, I thought they were coming to take me somewhere and kill me."  
Dimitri laughed, "So you just went willingly with people who you thought were going to kill you?"  
I glared at him, "Yeah I went willingly, I had plans to make my escape when they stopped to kill me. I was a little skeptical at first when I saw that there was four of you but I figured, I could take on all of you if I had to."  
Abe spoke up, "Ah, so you could have taken on all four of us could you? Why am I finding that hard to believe?"  
I rolled my eyes, "Because you'd hate to to think that anyone could possibly be as good as you. I don't know. And yes, I could have taken on all four of you. I just would have had a problem beating all of you, but once I put my mind to something, I usually accomplish what I set out to do."  
"That I do not doubt. I remember you in Russia. You nearly killed yourself to accomplish that task. Speaking of which, who were you looking for? Did you ever find them?"  
I looked at Dimitri, "I'd rather not talk about it."

The car ride was silent after that. I kept chancing a glance at Dimitri and everytime he was looking at me, like we kept looking at each other at the same time. And each time we caught the other one looking we hurriedly looked away. It went on like that for thirty minutes until I finally willed myself to stop looking at him. I was not going to let him being here out of 'responsibility' dampen my new found, albeit illegal, freedom. But regardless I could feel his gaze on me off and on the rest of the trip.

We pulled into a motel around midnight. Abe told me to wait in the car while he and his guardians went to go get us a room. We sat there for a few minutes before they came back, the whole time sitting there in silence not looking at each other. Abe opened up my door and helped me out of the car. Not that I really needed it, but it felt too good just to be around other people that I didn't protest.

"All right, here's how it's going to be. Me and my guardians are going to be in one room, room 229 to be exact. You and Dimitri are going to be in the other room, room 230."  
My head shot up, "What? You're seriously going to put me in a room with him? Aren't you afraid something might happen? Don't you want to keep a good eye on me or something, anything?"  
"As appealing as that sounds," Abe said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "I have things that I have to do that you cannot be there for and it works out better if you have your own room. Belikov, you don't have a problem with it do you?"  
Dimitri looked at me, "No, no problem at all."  
Abe smiled, "So it's settled. Here Belikov, here's your room key. Rose, stop acting like a child and just go to sleep. You think you can handle that?"  
"Yeah, got it. Thanks," I started to walk away when something occured to me, "By the way, you wouldn't happen to have any fresh clothes for me would you?"  
Abe threw a sack toward me, "There, that should tie you over until tomorrow when we can get you some more clothes."  
"Thanks old man, I appreciate it."  
I walked to my room finding it easily, but of course Dimitri was taking his time and I had to wait for a couple of minutes before he showed up. While I was waiting, I was wondering if he was anywhere near as nervous as I was. Me and Dimitri alone in a room. In the past I would be jumping up and down in excitement. Now, however, I was nervous as hell. What was it going to be like? Would he be polite and atleast talk to me, or would it be back to the cold shouldered silent treatment? What if there was only one bed, would we share it or would he sleep on the floor, or worse yet, would he make me sleep on the floor? Ugh, this was going to be a horrible night, I could already tell.  
Dimitri finally showed up and opened the door, holding it for me so I could walk in first. I nodded in thanks and walked in, flipping on the light switch. And my worst fears were confirmed: there was only one bed. Yep, it was _definitely_ going to be a long night. I placed my bag of clothes next to the only chair in the room and sat in waiting on Dimitri to say something. He walked in and sat on the bed, after making sure the door was secure, and looked directly at me.  
"Don't you want to take a shower or something. I know from personal experience that being in a cell isn't the most pleasant of circumstances to be in."  
"Well I was wanting to know the sleeping arrangements before I went. I don't want to be selfish or anything." My mood darkened a little at the reminder of my previous converstation with Adrian.  
"Well the bed's big enough, so unless you have as big of a problem with it as you were making it out to be in front of Mr. Mazur, we can share it."  
It took everything I could do not to let my jaw drop at that, "No I don't have a problem with it. I thought _you_ would be the one with the problem, since it takes you being indebted to someone for the rest of your life to come anywhere near me."  
"Rose, let me-,"  
"Let's just drop it okay? There's no reason why we can't just move past this and make the best of what we're dealt with. I'm going to go take a shower."

I hurried into the bathroom and hopped into the shower. I agreed to share a bed with Dimitri? What was wrong with me? I must be a glutton for punishment because this was definitely the worst kind: laying next to someone who you couldn't touch. The shower didn't last long enough, so I had to get dressed and face the music sooner than I would have liked.

I walked out to see Dimitri laying in bed with the covers around his waist with no shirt on. Seriously, did he not own a shirt to wear to bed? Yep, I was definitely a sucker for punishment. I crawled into bed wearing a nice pair of jogging pants and a tank top, pulling the covers around me. I turned over a little to look at Dimitri.

"Good night. I guess I'll see you tomorrow."  
"Good night Rose."

I rolled back over to try and fall asleep. DImitri shut the light off and within minutes his breathing turned steady and he was asleep. Just before I was drifting off to sleep myself, Dimitri rolled over and put his arm around my waist.  
"My Roza," he sighed.  
I was shocked, then I realized he was asleep. I thought I might as well make the most of it, so I cuddled into him and drifted off into the most peaceful sleep I'd had in atleast a week.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Well hello my lovelies =) So I gotta say, loving all the reviews and people who are adding my story to their fav/alerts. It's TOTALLY AWESOME and I love you guys for it. I smile every time I get an alert saying as much =) So this chapter is for all the Rose x Dimitri fans, trust me I'm with ya on that. lol. For all the Adrian x Rose fans, don't worry, he's due to make an appearance soon =) And as always, Richelle Mead owns everything but my story line, and yes that unfortunately includes Dimitri :'-(**

His hand smoothed over my hip, his finger tips feeling like feathers. I stared back into his eyes. They were the perfect color of blue. There was nothing more perfect or more right with the world than the feel of his mouth on mine. The way he applied just enough pressure to set every nerve ending in my body on fire, yet it was gentle enough not to hurt. I loved him so much. Christian, my Christian. He kissed me, and I lost it. The kiss became fierce, and he slid his hand into-what the...?  
Christian? Why would I be dreaming this about Christian.  
Uh-oh...  
Not again! I _so_ did not need this right now! I had to get out of there, NOW!  
His lips met mine again, and he started to make a trail down to my-  
_Okay Rose, it's nothing you haven't been through before,_ I told myself, _you can get past this. You're not her. You don't love Christian. C'mon, you can do it, just break free._  
He made his way back up my neck, kissing me exactly how I liked-  
I HAD TO GET OUT OF THERE!

I opened my eyes. Finally! I thought she had that under control. That hadn't happened in months and now all of a sudden I got to experience the Lissa and Christian love fest. Ugh, gross! That was _not_ something I ever wanted to experience for myself...EVER! The room was mostly dark except for a tiny light on Dimitri's side of the bed. That's when I noticed something. Dimitri's arm was still around my waist, and when I had drifted of to sleep, all the lights had been off. I turned my head toward Dimitri and looked right into his eyes.

"See something you like, comrade?"

He smiled a little, "Yes, I do as a matter of fact." He brushed a stray hair out of my face, "Did you sleep good? Toward the end there you had a horrified look on your face. Bad dreams?"

"Something like that. You'd have a horrified look on your face too if you just got sucked into Lissa's head during...never mind."

"Ah, I see. It all makes sense now."

I gave him a questioning look, "What does, the look or something else?"

He grinned at me, "Something else. You were making some very, how should I put it, _interesting_ noises before that look came on your face."

I shot up into a sitting position, "What!" I saw him trying to contain his laughter, "That's not funny Dimitri. I did not make any type of noise and you know it."

He was barely containing his laughter at that point, "I know, but it was so funny to see your reaction."

I looked down at him. This was so strange. Mere days ago he wanted nothing to do with me, now he had his arm around my waist joking with me? I removed his arm from around my waist, got up, and sat in the only chair in the room facing him. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

"So what gives, comrade?"

He looked confused, "What do you mean?"

I got aggravated, the episode with Lissa and Christian not helping, "Don't play dumb with me; I _know_you know what I'm talking about. Is this just another round of Rose and Dimitri? You know, first you were interested, albeit secretly, but that didn't last long because of the lust charm. Then you weren't because I was your 'student', and when I graduated we were to be Lissa's guardians. Then you didn't care and you slept with me, and we made all these plans that would somehow miraculously work out. Then you got turned strigoi,and it nearly _killed_me. I left Lissa defenseless to go chase you half way around the world to fulfill the promise we both made to each other, and I came so close. Then you got turned back into a dhampir, worshipped the ground that Lissa walked on and you wanted nothing to do with me. Then you tried to keep me from getting arrested by some twenty-plus guardians, which I must say was pretty bad ass, and you had this look in your eyes that said you'd do anything to keep me safe. And then you only came to see me because of Lissa, because of some stupid devotion you have toward her, even though she wouldn't have even been able to save you if it hadn't been for me. But then you do a three-sixty, and you help me escape and you hold me while you're asleep, like I'm you're only reason for existing. Ugh! Is this some sort of amusement park ride, because seriously if it is I want off."

I saw something flash in his eyes, and I knew he was fighting to keep in control, "Who says I only came to see you because Lissa asked? Did you ever stop to think that maybe I came of my own free will? You know Lissa better than I do, and you know she wouldn't send me to do something for her if she knew I wouldn't actually want to do it."

"You wanted to do it! Yeah right, I said that Lissa had sent you, and you never denied it!"

He let out an irritated sigh, "You never gave me the chance to."

"You asked me how I know you didn't want to. Well I'll tell you Dimitri, " My voice rising at this point, "I know because you don't do something like risk your freedom if you don't love someone without a damn good reason, and I figure your _undying_ devotion to Lissa would be a pretty damn good one to me. And you don't love me, remember, _love fades_." I said the last two words like they were the dirtiest words I could say.

His control snapped as I finished speaking, "I don't _love_ you! Do you actually think I would do something like taking on all those guardians for some stupid thrill? Or that I would allow myself to be implicated in your escape if I didn't love you. Lissa doesn't even know you're gone and probably won't until tomorrow, and what, I just felt like doing something, since I have nothing better to do? Sometimes I don't even know why I try to prove anything to you! Sometimes you act like such a child!"

"Child! I'm not a child! I've given up my life, my freedom for my friends and for people I don't even know because _they come first_. A child wouldn't do such things. Children are selfish, and care for no one but themselves, and I'm anything but that. All I do is care about others, regardless of how it makes me feel."

"Rose that's not what I meant and you know-"

"And besides, if I was so childish, then why did you even bother-"

Before I knew it we were kissing. It wasn't like the kiss I had been experiencing earlier when I had gotten sucked into Lissa's head. This was different. This kiss was born of all the anger we both had at our situation, at ourselves, at eachother. It was born of all the frustration we'd had to endure for not getting to be together because of our obligations, the time he was a strigoi, the weeks he'd kept me away after he was changed back into a dhampir. Separately they would have been powerful in their own right, but together, it was like nothing either of us had ever experienced.

And as suddenly as the kiss started off harsh and animalistic, it shifted. All the months of longing to be together, to touch, turned into one sweet caress between our lips. We stopped trying to take control and started to feel everything we'd shut out. He pulled me closer, as if he was trying to make us one. I couldn't help but remember the cabin, when we found ourselves in a similar situation. But this was different. It felt so much sweeter to me, knowing that even through everything life had thrown at us, we were able to make it here, to this moment, together. He pushed me down on the bed without breaking the kiss, rolling over pulling me on top of him. I pulled back to look at him, to stare into his eyes. In those brown depths, I saw everything I thought I'd lost. I saw the love he had for me shining brighter than I had ever seen it before. I saw the same intense expression in his eyes that I saw the day of my pre-trial; the look saying he'd go to the ends of the earth if need be to make sure I was safe.  
I kissed him again trying to put all my love, my feelings for him into it. He broke away, leaving a hot trail of kisses down my neck, and slipped off my shirt. He made his way back up my neck to my lips when there was a knock at the door. Cursing silently, I grabbed my shirt, slipping it on and went to answer the door. I opened it to find Abe standing there.

He gave me a knowing look. "Sorry to interrupt, but we have to go. Now."

There was something in his eyes that gave me pause, "Why, what's wrong?" Dimitri came to stand behind me.

"I don't know how they got here so fast, but someone is following us. I'm not quite sure if they are actually from the court, but Czekov is sure that they are in fact after you. Get your stuff together and meet me by the side entrance in five minutes. We've switched cars, so Czekov will come get you once you get out there. Understood?"

Dimitri was all business once again, "Understood."

Abe gave us a knowing smile, "Alright, see you two in five."

After Abe disappeared, I shut the door grabbing a plastic bag to throw my old clothes into. I glanced around the room, making sure I hadn't left anything when I looked over at Dimitri, that intense look in his eyes. I walked over to him and placed a short, sweet kiss on his lips.

"Got everything?"

He grabbed my hand and headed toward the door, "I do now."

**So I think that solved a few things...or did it? Muahahahaha, I guess you'll have to read future chapters to find out. LOL. If there's anything you'd like to see, like more Lissa & Christian, or something like that, just lemme know and I'll do my best to accommodate =) as always please R&R, it helps writer's block. Seriously, it does. It's no joke.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**Hello again my lovelies, here's chapter 5. I would have updated sooner, but unfortunately housework couldn't be put off any longer :-( I'll try to update again today (since it's like 1am) but I make no promises. I have a pretty hectic schedule today, but I promise to do my best to not keep you waiting. As always, I own nothing (except my brain, and even then I wonder sometimes. LOL) Richelle Mead owns everything...even Dimitri :'-(**

It seemed to me that no matter how much you'd experienced in your life, what you had accomplished, or what you had been through, if you were under a certain age-like say twenty-nothing you said mattered. Like if you happened to tell your mobster of a father and the love of your life that there was a car following you, and it had been for at least the past fifty miles, they coddled you and told you that it was just nerves. Nerves my ass. There was a blue, almost black, car following us-when we stopped, it did. When we left, it left too and apparently I'm the only one who actually considered that we weren't as sneaky as we had all thought. Saying that the two of them not listening was aggravating was an understatement. I was mad as _hell_ that they weren't taking me seriously, and I knew that it was going to bite us in the ass. That car had to be a guardian and my freedom was going to be short lived, and all because Abe and Dimitri wouldn't listen. I tried again for the tenth time, trying Dimitri since I had a new approach.

"Dimitri, do you trust me?"

"Of course, Rose, you know I trust you with my life."

"Good." I paused for affect, "Well do you remember back at the academy before the strigoi attack, when I told you I was seeing ghosts and you didn't believe me, even after Mason had shown us where the strigoi were holed up? You chalked it up to it being some kind of stress induced thing."

Dimitri shot me a dry look, "How could I forget, the strigoi attack changed everything. Your point Rose?"

"Well, you didn't believe me then until you had proof, kind of like you aren't believing me now and the proof is right behind the car with Abe's guardians in it and has been since we left the hotel. I'm not paranoid, it's not nerves, and it's not lack of sleep. I have noticed that car behind us for the past hour and a half. You've got to believe me!"

Dimitri sighed, clearly frustrated with me, "Rose, we've been over this. If that car had been behind us as long as you say it has, Abe's guardians would have called by now to tell us and make an alternate plan."

"Yeah, because they're reliable. They weren't even paying enough attention the first time not to get us caught. They're probably talking to each other and not paying attention to what the hell's going on behind them."

"Rose-,"

My frustration came out all at once, "Fine, just forget it. You might as well just turn the car around now and take me back to court because that's where I'm going to be headed as soon as the person following us gets an opening."

"Rose, it's not that I don't believe you, it's just that I have to put my faith in Abe's guardians and their judgement. Would it make you feel better if I looked into the situation when we stop for gas in a few minutes?"

"Yes it would. And if you don't find anything amiss, I'll drop it and won't say another word about it."

Dimitri put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me close so I could snuggle into his side, "Okay then, I'll look into it. If I don't find anything, you better keep up your end of the bargain." He smiled at me teasingly.

I rolled my eyes, "I will, I'm nothing if not a woman of my word."

A few minutes later we pulled into a twenty-four hour gas station to get gas. I had no clue where we were going, but Abe said that this was the last time we were stopping before we got to our destination. As soon as we pulled up to the pump and Abe shut the car off, Dimitri go out and went inside the gas station. It was just approaching noon, so I knew that Abe was seriously starting to feel the affects of the sun. He must have since it'd been at least thirty hours since we'd left court and I seriously doubted that he'd had a chance to get some 'food' before we had to jet. Abe's cell went off and he said three sentences before Czekov came and took his place, Abe retreating to the SUV they were driving. A few minutes later Dimitri came out of the gas station and got in the car.

I looked pointedly at him, "So?"

He gave me a look, like he couldn't believe something, "Well you were right, there is definitely someone following us. At first I really thought you were seeing things, but the driver of the car that pulled in after us has been eyeing us since they parked, and they aren't refueling or making a pit stop. They seem to just be waiting on us."

I smiled in triumph, "Ha! I told you so! When are you going to stop fighting my kick ass judgement, and start listening to me every once in a while?"

Dimitri just shook his head, smiling back at me, "I'll work on it, promise." He put his arm back around me, pulling me close again, resting his cheek on the top of my head. "I told Czekov about it. He said they had noticed a few miles back and already had a plan in place. Now all that's left to do is sit back and relax."

I snuggled into his side, "Don't mind if I do. I think I'm going to try and get some sleep. Wake me up if anything interesting happens."

He kissed the top of my head, "I will, don't worry. Now go to sleep, Roza, you look really tired. I'll be here when you wake up."

I kissed him softly on the lips, "Okay, love you." I got comfortable.

"I love you too, Roza."

I drifted off to sleep, breathing in the scent of Dimitri's aftershave. I was sleeping pretty peacefully when the blackness of my sleep started to ripple. I knew what was fixing to come: I was sucked into an Adrian dream. We were in a forest somewhere, pine trees all around us. For once, I wasn't scantily clothed. I had on a pair of black jeans tucked into a pair of light pink snow boots and a parka on with a hat. Snow covered the ground, and I looked to my right and there stood Adrian.

"Rose."

Even in sleep, I could feel my rage rising, "Adrian, what the hell do you want?"

He smiled a little, "It's good to see you too. I see you're either with Dimitri, or you had a rather pleasant visit with him. You're practically glowing."

"Yippie for me. I'm so glad your aura seeing abilities haven't disappeared with your spine."

The smile dropped off of his face, "So you're still mad about that. I figured as much."

"I'm surprised you even bothered with annoying me further in _my_ dreams. I really don't want to ever talk to you again, so you can stop 'visiting' me. You know, save yourself the embarrassment."

He shot me a look, "So are you going to shut up long enough so I can explain or are you going to keep running your mouth and miss out on the important information I've been gathering for you?"

My head shot up, and despite the hurt I felt for him abandoning me, I couldn't help but feel touched, "You've been gathering information for me? What kind of information?"

He looked around, as if we were being watched, "I can't tell you here. It's not safe. They're watching our every move. Text me when you find out where you're going. I'll come find you and deliver it in person."

I looked around, then looked back at him, "Are you okay? Who's watching us? Adrian you're acting weird. Are you not self-medicating anymore?"

Adrian had a weird look in his eyes, "They're not safe. One at court waiting on a decision to be made, one not knowing the danger that is coming. Will they be helped in time?"

I was a little scared. "Adrian?"

And as quickly as it appeared, the look was gone, "I'm fine. I have to go. Don't forget to text me the information when you find out where you're going."

"Okay."

"Oh, and little dhampir?" I looked over at him. He walked over to me and pulled me into a hug. "Whatever you have to do to make it happen, please be safe. I don't think I can bear it if anything were to happen to you."

I stood there in shock before I returned the hug. "I will. You do the same, and I promise, I'll text you when I find out where we're going."

He let go of me. "I hate to say it, but I'm glad Belikov is there with you. I can sleep better knowing he won't let anything happen to you."

My head snapped up, "How do you know he's with me?"

He smiled wistfully before the dream started to dissolve, "Because, you're his whole world little dhampir. He loves you."

I fell back into the blackness of a dreamless sleep.

A few hours later, I woke up and looked around. The sun was starting to set below the horizon turning the sky into a beautiful array of blues, pinks, purples, and oranges. Dimitri lay against the window, looking down at me. When I looked up at him, he smiled and the last thing Adrian said to me ran through my head. _You're his whole world little dhampir. He loves you._ I smiled at the reminder, snuggling even closer to Dimitri, if that was possible.

Dimitri tilted my head up, a teasing smile on his lips, "What's with the smile, Roza? See something you like?"

I couldn't help but smile back, "I do actually. I was just remembering something from my dream, that's all."

He looked interested, "Really, and what was that?"

It was my turn to tease, "Wouldn't you like to know."

"I would actually."

I smiled sweetly at him, "It was nothing. Just a reminder of how much you love me."

He leaned down and kissed me on the lips, "I do love you, my Roza. With all my heart."

"And I love you, Dimitri. So any clue as to where we're going?"

He grabbed one of my hands, drawing lazy circles on my palm. "We're about to stop at a hotel for the night that's a few miles up the road."

"Sounds good. I'm _starving_ and believe it or not I could use some more sleep."

"Oh, I can believe it, " he said, jokingly.

I decided to hold off on telling Dimitri about the Adrian dream. He would undoubtedly find out soon enough. I had more pressing matters to discuss with him first. Like the letter that Queen Tatiana left for me. She told me to share it with as few people as possible, and if there was anyone I could trust with this information, it was Dimitri. We pulled into the hotel parking lot, Abe going in to get us a room. I guess Abe thought me and Dimitri should room together again, because he handed us our key and round aboutly shoo-ed us away. It was very weird.

We had just settled in when there was a knock at the door. Thinking it was Abe, I went to the door and opened it and immediately wished I hadn't. On the other side of the door was the last person I wanted to see right now.

"I'm glad to see your respect for authority hasn't changed any."

It was my mom, Janine Hathaway.

**Dun dun dun...so how'd you all like a lil Adrian? He's so sweet, to keep doing stuff for Rose when he doesn't really have a chance. It's kind of sad actually :-( Ah, well things can't be helped. So who was following Rose? You guessed it Janine...or was it? I guess you'll have to tune in to the next few chapters to see. Please R&R and if you have any ideas, or would like to see something just lemme know and I'll do my best to accommodate. Just a lil teaser, there's gonna be a little bit of Lissa next chapter, some drama, and a whole slew of other things =)**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**Hello my lovelies, here's chapter 6. It's shorter than usual, but I couldn't leave you all hanging. This is sort of a filler chapter to get the boring part out of the way so we can get to some action! As always, I own nothing except my brilliant ideas, Richelle Mead owns everything else.**

I just stood there in shock. What in the _hell_ was my mom doing here? I thought she had a moroi to protect, although I would never mention that to her, out loud anyway. I knew better than to openly attack my mom on her guardian skills, or delve too deep into her past. My mind wandered back to when I was still at St. Vladimir's. Yeah that was definately one memory I wasn't likely to forget. I was supposed to be training with Dimitri but since I had stupidly suggested that he go with Tasha shopping, he was asleep in his room. And who decided to be his substitute for that session you ask? My mom, and not only did that training session _not _improve our relationship, I came away with one huge black eye to take with me on the required ski trip over Christmas. Yeah, that was definitely a special day. Seeing my mom standing there was something I didn't want, because if she was here then half the royal guard couldn't be too far behind.

My mom crossed her arms over her chest, "Well, Rose, are you going to stand there all day or are you going to invite me in?"

Dimitri came up behind me, "Guardian Hathaway, please come in."

"Thank you, Belikov," she said as she entered the room.

I finally snapped out of my trance, "So what are you doing here? Were you in the area and thought it would be a great time to stop by for a visit, because really, it's not the best time."

She shot me a dry look, "Really? So being accused of killing the queen then escaping from prison isn't the best of times to visit? Hmmm, I had no idea."

So that's where I got it from. "You still didn't answer my question. What are you doing here?"

"I came to talk to you. You know, to see if you needed any help."

My eyes shot to her, "Help me? Didn't you just chastise me for breaking the rules? I thought you were here to bring me back to court."

I saw anger flare in her eyes, "_Bring you back to court!_ You have got to be kidding me. Why on earth would I take you back so you could be executed like some common criminal? I know you're innocent. Rosemarie Hathaway, I may be a dead set on fulfilling my duties to my charge, but I will _not_ see you get executed for something you didn't do. You may have a temper, but I seriously doubt the Queen could have done anything that would make you kill her."

Once again my mom surprised me. I smiled at her, a little guilt showing on my face, "Thanks mom. You don't know how much I needed to hear that."

"Honestly Rose, I deserve more credit than that. You really thought I had come here to take you back?"

"Sorry mom, I guess I'm just tired. My nerves got the best of me."

"Well, I'll let you get to sleep then. We'll talk in the morning." She shifted like maybe she wanted to give me a hug but thought better of it. She had crossed the room when I spoke again.

"At least I know now that it was you who has been following us. It was starting to freak me out a little to be honest."

She looked back at me, concern filling her eyes, "Following you? Rose, Abe called me a couple of hours ago and told me to meet you all here. I didn't follow you. Maybe you're more tired than you realized. Go to sleep, I'll see you tomorrow." She opened the door and walked out.

Cold flew through my body like I'd been drenched with ice water. If she wasn't the one who'd been following us, then who was it? Did they still manage to track us after our last stop? Was it someone from the court who'd been on us since we'd left or was it someone else entirely. This couldn't be good. As if sensing my innner turmoil, Dimitri walked up behind me placing his hands on my shoulders to turn me around.

"Roza, let it go for tonight. Let's get you ready for bed, maybe a good night's sleep will give you a clearer mind to figure this out."

I nodded absentmindedly, "Sure, but there's something we need to talk about first."

Dimitri grabbed my hand, leading me to the bed. "Okay, what do you want to talk about?"

I sighed, gathering my thoughts, "This is going to be hard to believe, so I'd like you to keep an open mind about it. Can you do that?"

Dimitri smiled at me, "Of course, anything."

"If you recall, at my hearing when I was being led back to my cell, there was a sort of traffic jam of sorts and I was held up."

Dimitri looked thoughtful, "Yes, I remember that."

"Good. So while I was waiting to start moving again, I was slipped a note by Ambrose. I'm not sure if you are familiar with who he is, but he was rather close to Tatiana while she was still alive. Anyway, I read the note and was completely shocked. It was from Tatiana, telling me some rather interesting information."

"Which is...?"

I swallowed, finally saying the words out loud, "Lissa is not the last Dragomir. She has a brother or sister."

Dimitri looked shocked, "Impossible. Everyone died in the car accident, aside from Lissa. You know that as well as I do."

"I thought so too, but when we were in Las Vegas me and Adrian came across a bartender who suggested that Lissa's dad had an interest in the ladies there, and Adrian's dad agreed even going as far as to say he had a mistress. Then I got the note from Tatiana saying that she had a brother or sister, actually a half-brother or half-sister. Plus an alchemist I know named Sydney told me that all the paper files pertaining to Lissa's dad had gone missing. It all clicked."  
Dimitri made to speak but I cut him off, "Before you say anything, let me finish. I know it seems outrageous that Tatiana would leave me of all people a note, especially after the past we've had, but it's to help Lissa, so I guess she made an exception. I have the letter if you'd like to read it." I held it up.

Dimitri held out his hand for it, and read it. He must have read it several times, because his eyes kept going over certain parts of it.

"Well, this certainly changes things."

I looked at him questioningly, "How so?"

"It look like we have a change of travel plans. We need to head to Las Vegas to see what we can find out there. Can your friend Sydney help us by getting the files for us?"

I shook my head, "No, I asked her when she told me they had been stolen. She can't give them to us. Sorry."

"It's okay. We'll figure something out. Right now, let's go to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us."

He pulled the covers back, both of us slipping under them. I curled up to his side, laying my head on his shoulder. I fell into a deep sleep, thinking that I would get to enjoy the nothingness of it. As soon as I thought that I was sucked into an Adrian dream, only the atmosphere was different. We were in the forest again, only it was summertime. The sky was gray, and there was smoke in the air like the forest was on fire, it smelled that way too. I looked down at what I was wearing to see if this was some sick joke of Adrian's, and that's when I really started to worry. I was in a black pair of jeans and a close fitting black t-shirt. Around my neck was the nazar that my mom had given me for Christmas and it had a faint glowing like I was in some sort of danger. Around my wrist was the chotki and it to was glowing as if it was sending me some sort of warning signal.

I called out, "Adrain? Okay, you can come out now. This isn't funny." Silence met me.

"Adrian?"

I looked off to my left and felt utter horror hit my stomach like a punch. There on his knees, hands tied behind his back, badly beaten was Adrian. I ran over to him, trying to untie his hands.

I patted his face as gently as I could, "Adrian, wake up. Come on, Adrian, you have to wake up."

Adrian's eyes fluttered open, "Little dhampir? What are you doing here? I thought you were safe. You have all that protection around you. You shouldn't be here."

"What are you talking about? You're the one who always-,"

A voice cut me off shattering the silence, "Ah, Rose. It's always a pleasure to see you."

"What the-,"

I looked up from Adrian and right into the face of Victor Dashkov.

**And so the drama continues. LOL. So I just remembered that I said this would have Lissa in it. I totally forgot. I promise that Lissa will definitely be in the next chappie. Please R&R. I love you guys. You all are the best!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**Hello my lovlies, here is chapter 7. It's definitely my longest thus far, and I'm super excited about it. I think this should make up for the last chapter's blah-ness. LOL. So without further adieu, here it is. I own nothing but the plot, Richelle Mead owns everything else. Ah Dimitri...**

Victor stood there with the smoke swirling around his feet. Behind him stood his brother Robert, and someone who was shrouded by a cape and the shadow of a tree so I couldn't make out his face. Something about his sillouette seemed very familiar but I just couldn't place it. I had managed to get Adrian's hands untied and helped him to stand, although he had to lean heavily against me.

"What are _you_ doing here?"

"I'm just having a conversation with Adrian. Nothing that really concerns you. The real question is what are you doing here Rose? How did you manage to get into this place?"

I glared at him, "That's not really something that concerns _you_. What I want to know is what kind of conversation involves Adrian being tied up and beaten. Couldn't play nice Victor?"

"Ah Rose, you're such a delight. Every time I see you, I know Lissa will be taken care of. I must say, I'm rather surprised that you're here."

I helped Adrian lean against a tree, "I really don't think that you are as surprised to see me as you claim to be. How are you able to do this, I thought only spirit users could do stuff like this?"

He shook his head, "You have so much to learn. I thought you of all people would know that nothing is impossible. Just that fact that you are alive should be proof of that, even Dimitri being a dhampir again is also proof."

I tried to keep the shock off my face, "How did you know that Dimitri was a dhampir again?" I made a move for him, but he stepped back gracefully out of my way.

He smiled, showing a little of his fangs, "Rose it's been a pleasure, really it has, but alas our time has run out. Maybe next time you're here we can visit again. Unfortunately we have pressing matters to attend to. Please tell Lissa I said hello. "

And with that he disappeared along with Robert and the other person. I walked back over to Adrian, placing his arm around my shoulders. I didn't know how we were supposed to get out of here, but I started walking the direction I had come from, thinking it was as good a start as any. After several minutes of walking in silence, Adrian spoke up, his voice raspy from the stress he'd just been through.

"Do you have any idea where you're going, little dhampir, or are you just going to wander around here all day?"

I looked up at him, aggravation coating my voice "No I don't have any idea where we're going. You're the one who brought me into this dream, and you haven't been exactly forthcoming with directions. So where should I be going?"

He smiled a little at that, "Go over to that tree over there. That should be a good place to stop. We have to get out of here and back to the real world, otherwise things are going to get really bad."

I headed to the tree, "What happened, Adrian? How did Victor get here? Were you planning on meeting me here and they somehow intercepted you? How is this even possible? Are you-"

He started to laugh, "Are you going to take a breath and let me answer?"

I smiled a bit, "Sorry, this is just freaking me out. I didn't think something like this was possible."

Adrian's smile fell as I finished my sentence, "I didn't either, although it makes sense. You got into Lissa's head while you were in Russia. How did that happen?"

I looked away quickly. I hadn't told them about Oksana and Mark, and now wasn't exactly how I wanted to. "Well while I was in Russia, I met another spirit user. Her name was Oksana, and her husband, Mark, was shadow kissed like  
me. She's the one who helped me, and I always thought it only worked because we were bonded. But Victor getting in here? Now I'm not sure about that anymore. I'm not sure about anything anymore. Everyday I get more and more confused because something that was ingrained in me all my life turns out to be false. I don't know what to believe anymore."

We had reached the tree, and he pulled me into a hug. "It's going to be okay. We're going to figure all of this out, don't worry. The important thing now is to get out of here and meet up. Where are you all staying?"

"I don't know. We just stopped for the night. I think that we're heading to Las Vegas now though. Something came up that involves Lissa, so we have to do that first. Just head there. I'll text you if anything changes."

He nodded, "All right little dhampir, I'll meet you there. I'll text you when I get to Vegas. I assume you'll be using Dimitri's cell since I doubt you went to you room to grab yours during your escape."

"Yeah, I will. You have his number don't you?"

"I do. I'll be in touch. I think now's a good time to tell him the plan though. I don't think he'll be too happy to get a random text from me that is for you."

I grimaced, "Yeah, I don't think so. How do you know so much?" I shook my head, "Okay Adrian, send me back."

He leaned away from the tree. "Here we go. Remember little dhampir, be careful. I'll message you soon."

I looked up at him as everything started to fade, "I will. You be careful too."

When I woke up, the sun was shining through the window, the curtains pulled aside like someone had been trying to wake me up. I looked over to where Dimitri had been when I fell asleep to find the bed empty. I sat up quickly looking around for Dimitri, my heartbeat picking up. He wasn't anywhere. I was about to fling myself off the bed when I noticed he was sitting in a chair right next to me, asleep. My heartbeat started to slowed down.

I smiled and shook him, "Dimitri, wake up."

His eyes shot open, "Roza? You're awake." He pulled me into a hug, "I was really starting to worry about you."

I looked at the clock then back at Dimitri, a puzzled look crossing my face, "Worry? I've only been asleep for a few hours."

"No, it hasn't been a few hours. It's been three days. You went to sleep, and I woke up to you screaming. I tried to wake you up, but you wouldn't wake up. After a few minutes you stopped screaming. You stayed silent and unmoving  
ever since, until now."

"Yeah, real funny comrade. I'm not falling for that. Three days, almost believeable."

He shot me a dry look, "I'm not joking, Rose. I'm glad you can find some humor in all of this, but I fail to find any having been sitting here in this chair for three days wondering if you'd ever wake up or if something had happened that I didn't know about."

It started to sink in then. Three days? I'd really been asleep for three days? If that was true then...Victor. He must have been weilding some serious magic with the help of Robert. Robert...That was it! Robert was a spirit user, Oksana was a spirit user. Robert must have a pretty extensive amount of knowledge about spirit to know how to bring a strigoi back to life. If he had that kind of knowledge, then surely he could figure out how to dream walk. And if he could do that, then surely he knew how to bring people with him. That was the missing link. But who was that other person with them? Why was something about him so familiar? Dimitri was giving me a puzzled look so I decided to fill him in.

I took a deep breath and let it out, "So we have a serious problem. I'm talking _huge_."

The puzzled look fell off and was replaced by an alert look, "What kind of problem?"

I decided to tell him everything, "Okay so while we were driving here and I was sleeping, Adrain came to visit me." I saw a something in Dimitri's eyes that was gone quickly so I hurried on, "Well he told me he had some information for me and wanted to meet us wherever we stopped at, to which I agreed to."

"I fail to see how that is a huge problem, unless there's something you're not telling me."

I rolled my eyes, "I'm not done yet. Anyway, like I was saying, that night when we got here and I went back to sleep, I was sucked back into an Adrian dream only this time it was different. Adrian was tied up and beaten pretty badly. I had just managed to untie him when the person responsible showed up. It was Victor. I don't know how he did it, well I have a theory, but we'll get to that later. Anyway him being there must have kept me asleep for as long as I was. It was really weird."

He looked at me, "You mean other than the fact that Victor Dashkov was in your dreams?"

I nodded, "See that's just it. It's not my dream. It's Adrian's dream, it's always Adrian's dream because I'm always wearing what he wants me too, the location is always of his choosing. It was really weird this time because I wasn't dressed in the usual Adrian garb, and my nazar and chotki were glowing, like some kind of danger alarm, that's when I spotted Adrian and then Victor showed up."

He had that thoughtful look on his face, "You're right, we do have a problem. You said that you had a theory as to how he was able to be in Adrian's dream?"

"Yes I do. When I was in Baia, you're grandmother introduced my to a lady named Oksana. I don't know if you ever met her and her husband. Well, she was a spirit user. Anyway, after I thought I killed you," I rushed on, hoping Dimitri wouldn't dwell on it, "She came to heal me. Lissa fell into some trouble with another spirit user, Avery, and I had to help her before Avery turned her into a puppet. Oksana helped me get into Lissa's head."

"Okay, I follow. So how does this relate to Victor?"

"Well Victor has a half-brother, Robert. Robert's also a spirit user. In fact, he's the one who told me how to change a strigoi back into whatever they were before they were changed. So I figure that he must have an extensive amount of knowledge about spirit. He can probably do all sorts of things, so he must have been the one to get Victor into Adrian's dream, as well as someone else who I couldn't see well enough to recognize."

He looked as if he was processing everything, "It makes sense. No one really knows about spirit. So anything could be possible really. We need to let your mom know, and Abe."

"We do, but first I need to borrow your cell phone. I need to text Adrian to see if he's okay. He looked horrible the last time I saw him."

He handed me his phone, "Here. I'm going to go find your mom and Abe. I'll start filling them in on everything, and when you get done with Adrian, meet me in Abe's room."

"Okay, just don't tell them about finding Lissa's brother or sister okay? I'll tell them, when I'm alone with them. I mean, you can be there, but I don't want Abe's guardians around. For some reason, I don't trust all of them."

He leaned down and kissed my forehead, "Okay. See you in a few minutes."

He left, and I started texting Adrian. I was just about to send the first text when something rippled in the bond and I was sucked into Lissa's head.

"She what! How is that _possible_?"

Christian just shook his head, "I don't know. Apparently they just let her walk out though because the cell she was in is completely undamaged, and all the guardians on duty were unharmed. Also there's more..."

Lissa glared at him, "There's _more_! What else happened?"

Christian looked a little sheepish, "Dimitri's gone too. I don't know if he went with her or if he just took off, but he ditched his guardians and hasn't been seen since the morning of Rose's escape.

Her jaw dropped for a second, "They're _both_gone? How can someone disappear for five days and no one know about it until now? For crying out loud, one of them supposedly murdered the queen and the other one is supposedly going to be a strigoi at any moment. How does anyone not notice this!"

"Well, you didn't notice."

She shot Christian a look, "That's different. I've been away from the court for three days. I just got back late yesterday."

Christian pulled her into a hug, "I know, but I don't really think you're mad that they're gone. I think you're mad because they didn't tell you or take you with them."

Lissa looked down, "How could they not take me Christian? Rose promised she'd never leave me again. She _promised_."

Christian tilted her head back up, "Lissa, if I know Rose she did it for you. Just think about it. She escapes prison and runs off with you. What do you think would happen? They would think you broke her out and not only would Rose be in deep trouble, you would be there right along with her if they caught her. Do you think she'd really let you go down with her for the murder of the queen? No, she wouldn't and you know that as well as I do. Now I can't speak for Dimitri, but I'm sure he feels the same way, especially since he credits you for saving his life. It's not that she doesn't want you with her, I'm sure. It's that she knows you'll be better off here, helping clear her name. You can still help her without following her around."

"I know, it's just that I thought we'd clear her name together, you know? We'd both solve this whole thing and we wouldn't be in different parts of the world, or wherever she is."

Christian held her tighter, "I know Lissa, but you can still help. She needs you here more."

Lissa sighed, "I know. At least I still have you and Adrian. We can do this as a team."

Christian looked away from Lissa, "About that..."

Lissa forced him to look back at her, "What _now_!"

"Adrian's gone too."

I pulled myself out of Lissa's head. So Adrian had already left. That's right, he left before I did. I sure hope he didn't get too mixed up in this. This was my problem, but like Christian had told Lissa, the last thing I wanted was someone to go down with me as an accomplice. I'd rather go down solo. I felt horrible about the way Lissa was feeling, but that couldn't be helped. It's not like I really had a choice even if I wanted to have taken her with me. I didn't even know I was escaping until we were several miles away from the court.

I walked out of my room, and headed toward Abe's room. I didn't know how he was going to take it that we had to go to Vegas, but I didn't really care. I needed to find Lissa's sibling and solve Tatiana's murder, and I was going to do it my way regardless of what Abe thought. I walked in and my stomach hit the floor when I saw the look on their faces.

"What is it?"

Dimitri looked forlorn, "We have an even bigger problem than we originally thought."

**So, what do you all think? Pretty interesting huh? LOL. So who's the guy in the cape? Well read further chappies to find out =) If you all have any suggestions about what you'd like to see happen or some characters you can't get enough of, just lemme know. I promise I'll try to work it in. I'm definitely open to ideas =) So please R&R. You all are the bestest!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

**I'm soooooooooo sorry for not updating sooner. I just started practices for a play that I'm in so my schedule's been pretty hectic, plus our youth group is starting up again so that's another thing. So to make it up to you all, I made this chapter extra awesome. lol. So without further adieu, here's chapter 8. As always, I own nothing but the plot. Richelle Mead owns everything else.**

I remember when me and Lissa had first ran away from the academy and headed to Chicago. We had went to an amusement park wanting a thrill, so we hopped on a roller coaster. I remember waiting slowly as the car we were in ascended getting ready to breach the first peak of the track. Then suddenly we were plummeting through the air, almost free falling. At that moment my stomach fell right to my feet. That memory has always stuck with me for some reason, and I've only ever felt this feeling twice since then. The first was when I saw Dimitri get bitten by a strigoi, when my world started to crumble, and the second time was right now, what I had been feeling since I first walked in the room. There was just something on Dimitri's face that made me not want to hear what was coming next. It was a look that was mirrored on my mom's face, as well as Abe's. It was the last look I had wanted to see right now.

"What do you mean?"

Dimitri had his guardian mask on, "Adrian's missing."

I shook my head in disbelief, starting to go into shock, "That's not possible. I just sent him a text. I just saw him a few minutes ago. He can't be missing. It's just not possible."

Dimitri walked over to me, "I'm afraid it is possible. One of Abe's guardians was doing another round while on patrol and saw the sun glint of of something. He walked over to it, saw a cell phone, and brought it back here. We couldn't find out whose it was since the keys were locked, but as soon as you sent that text the screen lit up with an alert of an incoming text from D."

I stood there in shock, "No...no I refuse to believe this. He was fine when he left. He promised he'd text me to let me know when he got to Vegas. That's not his phone. It can't be, he wouldn't be around here."

Dimitri grabbed my hand, "Rose, anything could have happened to him while he was in that dream. What if while he was dreaming he got kidnapped? It's possible. And the person who took him could have left his cell here for us to find."

"This can't be happening. Who would do such a thing?" My mind immediately knew the answer, "_Victor! _He's the one who did this! He told me he had to do something, and now I know what. And of course, me and Adrian just let him disappear. We walked around in those stupid woods like Hansel and Gretel while the whole time Victor was here in the real world taking Adrian and leading us away from what we really need to be doing." It felt like my emotions were going to pull me under, and I had to fight off the feeling that I was missing something.

Dimitri gently brushed his hand against my cheek, "Don't worry, Roza, we'll find him. We'll find him and find who ever did this. I promise."

I looked down, trying to not cry, "What if we can't? What if he can't communicate with us to tell us where he is, what then? What if we're too late?"

"I don't know, but we have to try. We'll do our best, and hopefully it all works out."

I nodded, "You're right. Sorry, I'm just in shock I guess, and I have a killer headache for some reason. I think I need to be alone for a while."

Dimitri looked as if he wanted to follow, but he stayed where he was as I walked out of the room and returned to mine. It was all too much for me to take in. And I kept thinking there was something I was missing. Some key point in the past three days that I kept going over without noticing. It kept tugging on the back of my mind. To top it off, I was now sporting a massive headache. My day just kept getting better. I walked into the room, immediately sitting on the bed and started to rub my temples trying to relieve my headache. Man this was killer. I hadn't had a headache this bad since our return from court after Victor's trial. I laid down to see if it would help, and passed out.

I was back in the smokey forest again and I could smell something burning this time. Immediately I started looking for Adrian. I walked around in the forest for what seemed like hours until he finally showed up.

I threw myself into his arms, "Adrian, thank God you're safe! What in the hell happened to you!"

"I'm excited to see you too little dhampir, but I have no idea what you're talking about. Why wouldn't I be safe?"

I stepped back and shot him an incredulous look, "Seriously? Dimitri said you were kidnapped. Do you know where you are? We'll come and get you."

He looked at me as if I'd gone crazy, "I got kidnapped? I think you've got it wrong. See, one of the reasons I'm here is because someone has stolen my cell phone among other things. I needed to see you again to let you know that so you didn't keep waiting for a text message that's never going to come."

"Among other things? What else was stolen?"

"See that's the other reason why I wanted to see you. I had gathered some information about Eric Dragomir...well _gathered _is a loose term. I kinda stole some information about Eric Dragomir. The conversation we had with the bartender while we were in Las Vegas got me thinking and I decided to do some detective work. Turns out Lissa has a sibling somewhere. I didn't read the information I stole until after you were arrested, or I would have told you sooner."

I looked at him sheepishly, "Yeah, I kind of already knew about Lissa's dad."

His eyes shot over to mine, "How?"

"You're not going to believe this. Actually, you might. You've always had a twisted sense of humor, but Tatiana told me...in a note she left me. Apparently she knew someone had it out for her. She seemed to have already guessed at the time she had written the letter to me."

Adrian smiled, "She would. She was always creative on getting her will done. She _would_ leave you a note. Well, her note to you aside, that information was pretty important. Not only did it prove Eric had an illegitimate child, but it also had an address."

"But now all that's gone. Which means someone knows what I'm after and is trying to dissuade me from continuing. Did you know I was fixing to give up on finding this sibling of Lissa's and come find you?"

"Well you would have wasted your time because I'm here in Vegas at the Witching Hour. Room 332. "

I shook my head, "Damn it! I wish that information hadn't been stolen. It would be useful right about now."

Another smile spread across Adrian's face, "Lucky for you, I made copies."

"Really? You wouldn't lie to me would you? Never mind, of course you wouldn't. Okay, so I guess we'll be headed to Vegas as soon as I wake up. Ugh! How could someone know what I was after! Only three people know of that letter, well now four. You wouldn't do anything to yourself, Dimitri wouldn't do it because he just found out, Tatiana's dead, and I sure as hell didn't do it. That leaves...no one. What am I missing here?" I put my palm to my forehead, tapping it against my head a couple of times, "I've been feeling like this all day! What in the hell am I missing!"

Adrian put his arm around my shoulders, "Just relax little dhampir, you'll figure it out. Just do what you usually do and you'll get answers."

"I'll try. I need to go, I've got a lot to tell Dimitri and my mom before they go on some mission to find you and wind up in Vegas without me."

He smiled at me, "Only you would be more concerned about being left behind. I'll see you soon."

A twig snapped off to the left of us, "What's th-"

The dream dissolved, and I shot up into a sitting position realization setting in. I had been so relieved seeing Adrian there that I didn't comment on the atmosphere. I also didn't realize until it was too late that there was someone in the dream with us. Someone who had heard everything, from what Adrian's room number was to the fact that he had copies of everything. The only thing I knew was that we needed to get to Vegas fast, before whoever it was in the dream got to him.

I shot up out of bed, flung the door open, and plowed into Dimitri. Luckily his reflexes were better than mine and he was able to stop us from falling to the floor.

"Rose, what's the matter?"

I looked up at him, "We need to leave, now! Adrian just came to me, and he's fine. Unfortunately neither of us noticed that there was someone hiding there until it was too late and they overheard everything. He's safe now, but he's not going to be for long if we don't get a move on. I'm going to go tell my mom, you go help get Abe's guardians ready to leave in the next five minutes."

"I don't understand, I thought he got taken?"

I shook my head, "He didn't. I'll explain everything to you on our way to Vegas." I rose up on my tip-toes and kissed him. "Now, go. I'll meet you at the car in five minutes."

I didn't wait for his answer as I took off running toward my mom's room. I tried the door, but it was locked so I started pounding on it as hard as I could. My mom flung the door open like she was going to punch the person making so much noise and came up short when she saw me.

"Rose, why are you banging on my door like a crazy person? A simple knock would have sufficed."

I rolled my eyes, "Look as much as I would _love_ to stand here hashing this out with you, I don't have the time. I know where Adrian is, and we need to get to him before someone else does. I need you ready to leave in five minutes." I glanced at the clock that was just visible through the crack in the door. "Make that three. That's when we're meeting at the cars. If you aren't there when we get ready to leave, we're leaving without you, understand?"

Her guardian mask was firmly in place, "I'll do you one better, I'll be there in two." She shut the door, and I heard the click before I turned around and sprinted back to my room to gather my things.

Everyone was ready and waiting when I got to the cars, my mom talking quietly to Abe. That was definitely something I was never going to get used to. We took off toward Vegas, not planning to stop unless we needed gas. We all agreed that even if gas wasn't needed in some vehicles, they would have to top off, as to not slow up the rest of us. It was pretty quiet during the ride. I had filled Dimitri in on everything that Adrian had said, and when we had noticed the other person there. We made plans on the best way to get Adrian out and move on to finding Lissa's long lost sibling. Afterwards, we lapsed into a comfortable silence, so I decided to go visit Lissa. Maybe she could take my mind off of what I felt I was missing.

Lissa's emotions were jumping all over the place as she knocked on Christian's door, "Christian. Seriously, no one needs that much sleep. Open up."

"That's really funny Lissa. It's two in the afternoon. Most people aren't even up at this ungodly hour."

She brushed past him, and let herself inside, "I don't care what most people are doing. We've got a serious problem."

He shut the door and crossed the room to sit next to her on his bed, "What kind of problem?"

She looked down at the note, reading it in her head.

_Princess Vasilisa,_

_It's been such a pleasure to watch you the past few weeks. I'm simply amazed at the way you were able to bring Mr. Belikov back to life, the devotion others show you, and how you are able to make anyone you meet eat out of the palm of your hand, yet you refrain. I can see why Rose Hathaway vows to protect you at any cost, or is there another reason? I suppose it doesn't matter now, since she has all but disappeared. I wonder, how does it feel to have two of the most capable people to protect you abandon you all at once. I know you must be missing there companionship, as well as Mr. Ivashkov's. Ah, Adrian. Yes, Tatiana was very fond of him. It's a shame that he's going to be the one to suffer next. I guess you should have kept better tabs on him. All this is because of you Princess. Keep that in mind. Alas, I must cut this short for I have certain matters to attend to. I shall keep in touch, you can count on that. I hope to see you soon._

_Affectionately yours,_

_A_

I didn't bother to stick around to see what would happen next, because I finally figured it out. The missing link. I'd been puzzling over it all day since I had finally woken up and now it was as if it had all clicked together for me.

_A_

That's what did it for me. The guy behind Robert when I had found Adrian, why he had seemed so familiar. What I was missing when I named off the people who knew about Tatiana's note, because there wasn't four now, there was five. I had forgotten the key person in all of this. I had to have gotten the note from somewhere. And that's why he was so familiar to me even though he was cloaked. I had looked over his physique so many times when I went to see Rhonda.

Ambrose.

**Dun-dun-dun...how dare he! LOL. So what did ya think about Adrian being the one who stole those files about Lissa's dad? I know that's probably not how it's goin to play out but, it's still fun to imagine. LOL I can't wait to post the next chapters! It's really going to get good. I probably won't be posting chapter 9 until tomorrow b/c I have play practice tonight. I will post tomorrow, and I promise I won't wait that long to post again unless I let you all know first. So please R&R. It really makes me happy to hear what you all think, and happy makes me write fast, fast writing helps me put out more chapters, more chapters means good reading for everyone =)**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

**I'm sooooooo sorry! I've had the worst case of writer's block imaginable! So here's chapter 9, short I know but the next chapter is going to be _intense_! I promise to post the next chapter either tonight or super early tomorrow morning (like midnight or 1 am early :D). So without further ado, here it is =) As always, I own nothing. The ever lovely and talented Richelle Mead owns everything except my plot and what ever sort of chaos I inflict upon her poor unsuspecting characters.**

I kept hitting myself mentally. How could I have missed this! It all made sense. Ambrose was close to the queen. He could have easily slipped into the room and killed the queen, he went and saw her all the time. And he could have easily slipped in there and back out without anyone being the wiser. No wonder Tatiana was suspicious of someone being after her, only she probably didn't know that it would be her lover. I knew there was something wrong with Ambrose when I first met him, only I hadn't expected it to be anything like this. It was odd enough for a male dhampir to neglect his duties to the moroi, but to become a blood whore on top of it, that was practically unheard of. But who better to be a blood whore to than the queen. It would give you the inside access to do pretty much anything you wanted to.

I shook Dimitri to wake him up, "I figured it out."

He was still groggy from sleep, "Figured what out?"

I sighed in exasperation, "Who killed Tatiana and who framed _me_ for it."

"Who?"

"Ambrose. He was Tatiana's...lover of sorts. All I know is that we need to get to Adrian and hurry up and find Lissa's sibling, because Ambrose is about to set his sights on Lissa after he does what he's wanting to do to Adrian."

He looked over at me, something flashing in his eyes and disappearing before I could pin-point it, "How do you know all of this?"

"I slipped into Lissa's head to check in with her and she had a note that she was really stressing over. I was able to read the letter through her eyes, and the writer was someone who called himself A. Then it all clicked. He was in the dream when Victor came, he was the one who was listening to what me and Adrian were saying, and he was the one who sent the note to Lissa." I shook my head, "I can't believe I didn't connect all of this together sooner. I should have put it together after I had talked to Adrian."

Dimitri grabbed my hand, "Rose, there's no way you could have known. Don't beat yourself up about it. We'll get it all figured out in time."

"I sure hope you're right."

We were quiet after that. I sat there thinking of everything that had happened to me up to this point in my life. I couldn't help but feel like everything was happening because I wasn't supposed to make it out of that car accident. My kind were unnatural enough, but I didn't think being brought back to life helped any. And maybe this was my penance for Lissa's gift. Or maybe I wasn't supposed to be the one Lissa brought back. Maybe that was why I was going through all of this. I couldn't quite shake the depression that was starting to set in and I was starting to get worried. I was never the one to suffer from depression. Anger yes, depression-not so much. I checked the bond to see if maybe it was Lissa but she was asleep, nothing coming from the bond except quietness.

The ride to Vegas seemed to keep draging on. I kept dozing off, and everytime I finally slipped off into oblivion Adrian would try to visit. Only my surroundings never materialized and I would wake up feeling more depressed that I was before I went to sleep. The same thing kept happening when I would drift off to sleep until I finally gave up on the whole idea. There was no point in doing something that wasn't going to happen. I looked over at Dimitri and just watched him sleep. It was so strange to actually look at him and know that he wasn't going to treat me like a pariah when he woke up. It was as if everything was finally going to work out for us. As I was staring at him I noticed something I hadn't seen before. Under his left ear, there was some sort of mark that I could have sworn wasn't there before, and I would know. I had studied his features for months, especially when he was pushing me away. I couldn't shake the feeling that there was supposed to be something wrong with that mark.

I thought about waking him up to ask him what the deal with that mark was, but thought better of it. Surely I didn't have every inch of him memorized, so I probably just missed it the other million times I studied him. I looked at the mark one final time before I looked out my window and decided to study the Nevada landscape.

The sun was setting behind the Vegas sky line by the time we got inside the city limits. I decided to call Adrian to let him know we were close and to be on the look out for us, so I carefully slipped it out of Dimitri's pocket so I wouldn't wake him up and dialed the number.

Adrian picked up after the third ring, "Hello?"

"Hey it's me. We just reached Vegas and we're about two miles away. Give us five minutes and then head down to meet us unless you hear something different from me."

"Okay." He seemed to hesitate, "This is going to sound stupid but Belikov's with you right?"

I frowned before I answered, "Yeah, he's been with me since I broke out. Why?"

He seemed to hesitate again, "I'll explain when you get here."

"Okay...I will. I'll see you soon."

I hung up the phone and went to slip it back into Dimitri's pocket when I realized he was awake and staring at me. I smiled at him as if to apologize and handed him back his phone.

"Who was that?"

I suddenly got a weird feeling in my gut, "Adrian. I was just letting him know we were close."

Dimitri looked mad at that, "Does he really need a play by play of every move you make, I thought you two were over? Seems to me he needs to get a life and stop harassing you. You don't owe him anything."

I was taken aback, "Okay, hello Mr. Hostility. What in the hell was that all about? And yes, we broke up-we're just friends now. You don't have to go get all bitchy because I talk to him."

"Well you talk to him more than you talk to me. I have a right to get all 'bitchy' as you call it. You're mine, Rose, and I'm not going to let some spoiled little rich kid try and take what's mine."

Rage started to boil in my stomach, "Seriously, you're going to act like a little kid about this? You know, Dimitri, I expected more from you." We pulled up to the hotel. "We'll talk about this later, because I'm done with this conversation. I have more important things to worry about right now than your childish attitude."

I got out of the car and started walking toward the hotel entrance. Dimitri came up behind me and grabbed me by my arm, roughly pulling me back to the car. Abe, my mom, and Abe's guardians walked in ahead of me, ignoring me and Dimitri.

I yanked my arm out of his grasp, "What in the hell's the matter with you! Don't _ever_ grab me like that again. I don't care what kind of hell you've been through, you grab me like that again and what you've experienced before won't _compare_to what I will do to you. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going inside. In case you haven't noticed it's night and I'd rather not leave myself open to getting attacked by strigoi."

I turned my back to Dimitri, and started to make my way back to the hotel entrance when the nauseous feeling hit me. As if me saying the word had summoned them, I was suddenly surrounded by at least ten strigoi.

_Shit_.

**Dun dun dun. What is going to happen to our poor Rose? I guess you'll just have to read the next chapter to find out. Muahahahahahahahaha! I won't be posting this weekend b/c I'm camping and I'm pretty sure there won't be any internet access, but I'm going to try and bring my laptop so I can write and have lots of chappies for your to read =) So please R&R and make me super happy =)**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

**So here's chapter 10 as promised =) It's shorter than I would have liked but it's here none the less. So without further ado, I own nothing. Richelle Mead owns everything else.**

There comes a point in your life when you know that you probably aren't going to make it past the moment you are living in now. I've had a few close calls in my short time living: when Dimitri had fallen and I tried to rush back into the cave to help him, when I went to Russia to chase Dimitri down and tortured strigoi to find out information about him, when he captured me because I had hesitated, the night on the bridge outside of Novosibirsk when I thought I finally killed him...just to name a few. But this was totally different. I looked around the circle of strigoi surrounding me and tried to wrap my head around it. I glanced over my shoulder to see where Dimitri was and saw him leaning against the car, acting as if there wasn't an army of strigoi surrounding the woman he loved. I chanced a glance up toward the windows on the third floor of the hotel and just glimpsed the curtains twitching back in place.

_Okay, think Rose._ I told myself. _There's only ten of them. Maybe Dimitri's acting like he's not involved so he can sneak attack them or something._ But as soon as I thought the words, I knew in my gut that it wasn't the case. Why in the hell wasn't he acting? Surely he wouldn't let something as little as a lover's spat stop him from coming and helping me. I figured that I might as well get this started. Hopefully, since _Dimitri_ wasn't going to help, Abe would wonder why I was taking so long and send down some of his guardians to check on me. Hell, hopefully my mom came, because as pathetic as it sounded, I could have really used my mom's bad ass guardian skills right about now.

I looked at the tall, dark-haired strigoi that stood in front of me, closer than the others, "What, did I get a candy gram or something? Because, honestly I'm a little disappointed. I've been here three minutes and I haven't heard my song or gotten my candy."  
He smiled at me, "Ah, Rose Hathaway. I know all about you. Too bad you're attitude is going to get you killed that much sooner."  
I shot him a derisive smile, "Have you been stalking me on facebook? That's a little creepy, besides I haven't been on there for weeks now so your information is probably out of date."  
He laughed a cold, hard lifeless laugh, "It is truly going to be a pleasure to kill you. It's a shame your lover couldn't be here to suffer with you or at least see the life being drained out of you slowly. That would truly make my night."

I shot a look back over my shoulder to Dimitri only to see him smiling at me. Only this wasn't the warm, loving smile of just a couple of days ago. This smile reminded me so much of the smile he used to smile at me while he was still a strigoi-cold, calculating. If I got out of this alive I was going to seriously kill him.

I looked back at dark-haired strigoi, "It is a shame. But alas, you only have me, so let's forego the formalities shall we? I'm expected inside, and I'd rather not keep them waiting longer than I have to."

I pulled the stake that Czekov had given me back at the hotel from out of my jacket, crouching into a fighting stance. I shifted my gaze from one to the other, listening to see if the ones behind me moved to attack while I wasn't facing them. I didn't have to wait long before the circle dispersed and all but three of the strigoi clustered together. The three remaining took it upon themselves to attack me at the same time.

I dodged the first one, landing a swift kick to the second one's stomach which barely seemed to phase him, and neatly staked the third one all in the span of three seconds. However my happiness didn't last long because the other two were on me fast and I was kicking and swiping at them with my stake to keep them at bay. I was waiting for an opening and after several minutes the first strigoi gave it to me. I rushed him and staked him before he knew what was happening, which left me with the last one. We sized each other up trying to see which one could get the upper hand, and I kept hoping it was me. He punched me, nearly knocking me to the ground but I recovered quickly. I pretended to be more affected than I was and waited for him to make another move, which he did. As soon as he started to rush me again, I dropped down into a crouch and staked him smoothly through his heart.

I stood up again, waiting to see how many I'd have to fight next. I chanced another glace toward the third story windows again, and that was the biggest mistake I could have made. As soon as I started to glance down the other seven strigoi rushed me. Apparently they thought that three at a time was not nearly enough to do an adequate job of taking me down, so I had to deal with the rest of them at the same time. Two bull-rushed me at once and slammed me into the hard concrete. As dots swam before my eyes, I thought it odd how the street in front of the hotel was totally deserted and this huge gathering wasn't drawing any attention. I managed to kick the strigoi that was starting to get on top of me into three other strigoi and got up before another could take it's place.

As soon as I got my footing back, I was punched in the stomach and kicked back down to the sidewalk. By some shear bit of luck I managed to stake the strigoi that decided to land on top of me. I rolled over and took out my stake, trying to get up before another one could get to me. I was not as lucky as I had hoped. A blond strigoi placed her hands around my neck while I was trying to get up and slammed me back down into the sidewalk. She started lowering her face toward my neck, pushing my face to where I was looking at Dimitri. I was still struggling, trying to break free but I couldn't help but think how odd it was for Dimitri to not help me. He could take down half the royal guard for me, but help me against ten strigoi - he'd rather sit out. That was so unlike him.

The blond strigoi was applying so much pressure to my head, I felt like she was a couple of seconds away from breaking my neck. She was about to bite my neck when I heard the most wonderful sound in the world. It was almost better then hearing Dimitri's voice after Lissa had staked him and turned him back into a dhampir. It was the sound of the doors bursting open from the direction of the hotel entrance and feet running into the fray that was surrounding me. Suddenly the blond was no longer on top of me and I jumped up to help the others. I looked around and saw my mom darting in and out of my vision along with Abe's guardians.

I wasn't paying enough attention and the leader that had taunted me earlier knocked me down again. The whole getting knocked into the sidewalk thing was starting to get really old, and I was getting angry that I kept letting my guard down. He bit down into my neck, pain shooting through my body fading into the blissful feeling that came because of the endorphins. He kept drinking from me, and my vision started to blur-black dots appearing before my eyes. _This is it,_ I thought to myself. _At least I'm going to go not feeling any pain_.

I was just about to slip into the darkness when I heard a feral growl from somewhere and pain suddenly shot through my neck, radiating through my body. I heard the last of the screams from leader die down into nothing when a dark figure loomed over me. I had to try to focus on who it was, but finally they came into focus. Dimitri.

"Oh so now you decide to help, " I tried to say, but I didn't think it had come out as clearly as I had hoped.  
"Rose don't talk, I'm going to get you help. Stay with me."  
"Don't tell me what to do, I-"

That's when I couldn't hold my head up any longer and it rolled to the side. Standing near the car in handcuffs by my mom was Dimitri. That wasn't possible though because Dimitri was holding me. I managed to muster up enough strength to glance between the person holding me and the person being led behind us several times before it started to register.

_Two Dimitris?_

That's when I passed out.

**Two Dimitris! Is she dreaming b/c of blood loss or is there really two Dimitris? I guess you'll just have to wait until the next chapter to find out. Muahahahahahahahaha! So please R&R. I really want to know what you think =)**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

**Hello my lovelies. I finally have chapter 11 up. It would have been up sooner, but I hit a huge case of writer's block so I'm not quite sure about this one. So without further ado, here it is. As always, I own nothing but the plot. Richelle Mead owns the rest, even Dimitri :-(**

Darkness swirled around me, pulling me under deeper than I could remember being. I felt hot, then cold, then hot again. It was a sensation I had felt before, but in my current state I couldn't remember when and what was the cause of it. I felt like I was floating on a dark cloud, not feeling anything else except the hot, cold, then hot again sensation. In my dark, dreamless state I began to hear voices, and I wasn't sure whether it was because I was dead, waking up, or actually beginning to dream. The first voice sounded distraught, like the world was ending in the event I died. So I wasn't dead yet. The second voice I could have placed anywhere, except for the warmth that was previously there for the past few days was again missing. I listened to see if I could figure out what was happening around me.

The first person's voice cracked, "This is all my fault, I should have warned her sooner." He seemed to swallow, "If I had told her the truth, she wouldn't be like this now. What if she never wakes up?"

The second person answered dryly, "You're over reacting a bit aren't you? She's going to be fine."

The first person seemed to get angrier, "Over reacting! She's been like this for five days! I shouldn't have listened to you. There was no way she could have taken on that many strigoi by herself. What could you have possibly been thinking!"

The second person's voice was like ice cold steel, "I was thinking that she needed to be safe and alerting her to what was going on would have put her into more danger than she was actually in. She's going to be fine. She can probably hear us now."

I drifted back off, not wanting to hear anymore. I had only heard a voice that cold one other time in reference to me: when Victor Dashkov was about to go to trial and I went with Dimitri to talk to him. That was before everything got complicated, before I lost a future that was finally going to work out for me and him. I drifted in and out of the blackness for a while more before I finally had the energy to open my eyes. The light was blinding at first, but after a couple of minutes, I was able to keep my eyes open and what I saw shocked the hell out of me.

Standing at the back of the room was Adrian, Dimitri, and my mom surrounding a person. I blinked to make sure I wasn't seeing things, but it seemed that I couldn't wrap my head around what I was seeing. The person that was surrounded was Dimitri, which couldn't be right because Dimitri was standing next to Adrian. I cleared my throat, and suddenly I had eight pair of eyes looking at me right before I was engulfed into a hug by Adrian.

He pulled back and shot me a teasing grin, "Finally awake little dhampir? Leave it to you to sleep while everyone else does all the work."

I put on a smile, "You know me, I don't like to mess up my nails." I looked over at my mom and the two Dimitris, the smile dropping from my face, "So does anyone want to explain to me why I'm seeing two of Dimitri? I know I had my head slammed pretty hard several times, but I'm not seeing double of anyone else."

Adrian started, "Well about that, that's what-"

Dimitri interrupted him, "The person who you've been thinking is me is actually someone else. I don't know how this person looks like me, but it definitely isn't me."

My mom looked between the two Dimitris, "How do we know that you are telling the truth, Belikov? Tell me how am I supposed to know which one of you is actually Dimitri?"

He had his guardian mask firmly in place, "Ask me something only I would know. We'll see who gets the answer right."

My mom started, but I interrupted her, "Okay, fine. The night in the cabin, when you were cleaning my up after the fight, before the wards were broken, tell me, what happened afterwards." I looked at the Dimitri who was cuffed next to my mom. "You go first."

He seemed to hesitate for a second before he answered, "You sensed the strigoi before we both ran out and started fighting them."

I started smiling, "Okay, good answer." I looked at the Dimitri standing next to Adrian, "Your turn."

He shot me a look, "Rose, I don't think that this is the place to discuss this, especially in front of your mom."

I glared back at him, "Stop stalling and just say it. It's not like she's completely oblivious. She's regarded as one of the best for a reason."

He let out an exasperated sigh, his careful hold on his control slipping, "Fine! You were being controlled by Lissa's darkness. I was finally able to help you let it go, and we slept together."

"Bingo."

My mom shot me a look, "You slept with Belikov?"

I looked her in the eyes, although that was the last thing I wanted to do, "Yes mom, I did. He was actually planning on getting reassigned once Lissa graduated so we could be together. We loved each other, mom, but we weren't going to let our love for each other jeopardize Lissa's safety. Not that it really matters now. He got turned into a strigoi," I looked at Dimitri, "and well apparently feelings change when you go through something like that."

She looked at me for a second, "I knew you loved him Rose, I just didn't think it was this serious."

"It's not. Not anymore, right comrade?"

Dimitri looked at me, "Rose, I would-"

I cut him off, getting out of bed, "Don't worry about it. It's fine. I'm going to go get some air. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Adrian spoke for the first time in several minutes, "I'll join you. I'd really like to talk to you."

I shot him a smile, "I'd rather be alone for a few minutes. This is a lot to take in after having your head nearly smashed in. We'll talk when I get back."

I walked onto the balcony and shut the sliding glass door before anyone else could say anything. The sun was just rising into the sky, turning the dark purple of night into a beautiful indigo, pink, orange, and blue. I just stood there soaking in as much sun as I could, knowing I probably wouldn't get a chance to do this again for a while. The ache in my chest that had disappeared a few days ago was back in full force, like it was when I knew that Dimitri was turned. I should have known that it was too good to be true. Happy endings just didn't happen to me. Cinderella- she got to go to the ball, ride in a carriage, and get prince charming in the end. Me-I got drug back to a school I had ran away from with my best friend, fell in love with my mentor, had a roller coaster romance that ended in him getting turned into a strigoi, and I figured out how to change him back only to lose him to my best friend when she actually changed him back. And I'm back to being treated like a pariah because he can't stand what he's done, and I'm a constant reminder of that. That's just how life goes I guess. Happy endings don't happen for my kind. Our happy ending is dying of natural causes. I guess that's what I should shoot for. I should stop trying to figure out how to get the person who completes me to actually _want_ to be with me and just try to live past fifty. That's something that might actually happen.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't hear the door open or notice when someone walked up next to me. I nearly jumped out of my skin when he started speaking.

"You know, little dhampir, I don't think I've ever seen the sky like this before. Maybe it's because I'm standing here with you, but this is the most amazing sunrise I have ever witnessed."

I looked over at him, "I think this is actually the _only_ sunrise you've ever witnessed. Aren't you usually passed out drunk when the time comes?"

"Ah, I've missed your wit lately." He seemed to hesitate a little bit, "You know, you really scared us back there. I really didn't think you were going to wake up."

"Yeah, well nearly being killed by a psycho strigoi bitch can do that to you." I nudged him with my elbow, "So you and my mom were really worried huh?"

He looked down and frowned a little before answering, "It wasn't just us you know. Dimitri hasn't slept in five days. Don't get me wrong, neither has your mom, but she was watching the prisoner. Dimitri sat by your bed everyday for the first four days. Then Lissa came and healed you, and he finally moved."

My head shot up, "Lissa's here? How could you all be so stupid! You all just put her in danger for no reason, just because I was knocking on death's door? What were you thinking!"

Adrian looked at me dryly, "I didn't bring her anywhere. Her, Dimitri, and Christian showed up right before you called me."

"Wait a minute. How can that be? When I was in her head, Christian told her that me, Dimitri, and you were missing. So how could they have shown up together?"

He shook his head at me, "That's what I was going to tell you before Dimitri interrupted me earlier. Apparently one of the guardians that was supposed to watching him knocked him out somehow and stuck him somewhere. Unfortunately for him, he didn't realize how good of a guardian Dimitri was and he escaped. Lissa called me and before I could blink, they were practically beating down my door looking for you. Apparently they thought you were with me."

I shook my head, laughing a little, "Of course they would. We're supposed to be a couple, remember?"

He looked away from me, "About that, I want to pretend that I could tell you I'm sorry and we could pick up where we left off, but I know that it's not going to happen. As much as I want to be with you little dhampir, and I do, I know now that it's just not going to work out. And I'd rather have you in my life as a friend than not have you at all." He looked back at me, a sad smile on his face, "So what do you say, friends?"

I laughed for the first time in several weeks, and pulled him into a hug, "Of course we can be friends, Adrian. I'm sorry, for everything. I'm sorry for leading you on, for pretending that I could actually move on, for being something I'm not." Tears started falling, and for once I didn't care, "I'm sorry that I couldn't give you my heart, because it was broken, and from what I can tell it's going to stay that way. You deserve so much better than me. One day, you're going to meet someone who completely knocks you off your feet, and you can't spend another minute without them. That girl is going to be so lucky, Adrian, because you are one of the best guys I know, and I know you are going to treat her like a queen."

"Well when I do you aren't going to stake her are you, since I'll be treating her like a queen and all."

I looked up and saw the smile on his face and laughed a little despite my tears, "Depends."

He pulled back slightly to look at me, giving me a quizzical look, "Depends on what?"

I wiped some of the tears away, "Depends on how she treats you back."

He laughed out right, just as the door slid open. We both looked over and saw Dimitri. Dimitri suddenly looked down and cleared his throat. "Sorry to interrupt, but Lissa would like to speak with Rose when she has a second."

I wiped the tears off my face and faced Dimitri, "You weren't interrupting anything. Can you send Lissa out here? I think Adrian's had enough sun for now anyway."

Adrian nodded, "Yeah, I was fixing to head inside anyway." He looked back at me when he reached the door, "We'll talk later, little dhampir."

Dimitri looked as if he wanted to talk to me, but he turned around after a couple of seconds and went to go get Lissa. I walked to the edge of the balcony, resting my arms on the railing just looking over the city. Something started to tug on my mind as I stood there, something that was very important. I couldn't grasp it, but it still kept tugging. The sliding door hissed as it opened, and I looked over as Lissa walked out, Dimitri standing there near the door as Lissa shut it again.

Lissa looked at me, then ran over and threw her arms around me, "Rose I'm so happy to see you. I've missed you so much."

I smiled hugging her back, "I've missed you too. Despite everything that's going on, I'm really glad you're here. I could really use my best friend right now."

She pulled back and looked at me, concern shooting through the bond, "What's the matter?

I told here everything. From the visit from the other Dimitri, the fight I had with Adrian when he dream walked to see me, the escape. I told her about what the other Dimitri had said, and me believing him thinking it was really Dimitri, how hurt I was when I found out it was all a hoax, how I hid my feelings because I knew Dimitri wouldn't care. I just poured out my heart, telling her about how I've felt since the day in the church when Dimitri had told me his love had faded. I didn't want her to know about it, but I just couldn't hold it in anymore. I told her about the conversation that led up to it, and how the next day he had defended me against the royal guard. I told her how devastated I was when Dimitri wouldn't talk to me, when he kept trying to ignore me, when he refused to see me, but would have walked in front of a bus for her, and how I wished he would have felt the same way about me, and I told her how I knew he would never feel that way for me again. I was sobbing uncontrollably by the time I had finished, something I hadn't done since the plane ride back to the academy after Mason had died.

She stood there holding me, stroking my head just letting me cry. It felt good to finally get all of it off my chest. If anyone would have understood what I was going through, it would have been Lissa. She always wanted to help me the way I helped her, and she had. She brought Dimitri back from being a strigoi, and for that I would owe her for the rest of my life, even if he never wanted me to be near him again. Because I had realized that it was better to be in a world where Dimitri was alive, a dhampir, than to be in a world that was deprived of him, due to me or some other guardian having to stake him. But there was a way she had helped me that she didn't even know about. It was times like this, times where I could pour my heart out to her and know that she wouldn't judge me, or try to make me see reason. She would just be there for me and listen, and that meant more to me than she'd ever know.

I had finally calmed down, and had put away my tears. I felt better than I had since before the attack on the academy, and I had Lissa to thank for it. We stood out there for a little bit more before I saw the sun start to take it's toll on Lissa. I turned toward the door to usher her inside when I saw the smallest of cracks between the door and the wall. Dimitri still stood there by it and I couldn't help but wonder if he had heard everything. I was about to say something to Lissa about it, when it all clicked. _Dimitri_. The other Dimitri had something behind his left ear. That's when I should have gotten suspicious, but I didn't. Since he wasn't really Dimitri, he had to have something charmed to look like him. And since Dimitri didn't wear any type of jewelry, they would have had to put it somewhere on him to make the other person look like Dimitri, somewhere where no one would notice...like behind his ear. It must have been a really strong charm because it had lasted longer than most charms. Unless...unless someone was following him and charming it over and over.

I grabbed Lissa's arm and dragged her inside without saying a word. She kept asking me what was wrong but I didn't answer her. I thought of a plan, and whispered it to Lissa. She nodded, looking like she really didn't want to go through with it. I nodded back and headed off toward the back of the room. I grabbed a knife from the kitchen of the suite, and walked over to the Dimitri cuffed next to my mom, Lissa following to stand beside me.

I crossed my arms over my chest, noting the worry on my mom's face, "Okay, where are they?"

The fake Dimitri looked at me smugly, "Who?"

I glared at him, "Victor and Robert. I know they are keeping tabs on you, and that they are the ones revamping your charm to keep you looking like Dimitri. So you can either tell me the easy way, or

I can find out what I need to know the fun, hard way...well fun for me anyhow."

He laughed, "Oh, and how do you expect to do that?"

I glanced down at the knife nonchalantly, "Well, first, I'm going to cut off one finger at a time. And I figure that by the time I get to your last finger, you will have lost enough blood that you'd tell me anything. And if that doesn't work...well we'll just have to go from there."

"You aren't going to do it. You don't have the guts, and it goes against everything you've ever been taught."

I laughed, and it sounded unfamiliar, even to me, "Well you seem to be forgetting one thing here. I'm wanted for murder, so I don't have anything else to lose. At this point, all my training doesn't mean shit to me, as long as I get the answers I need. So your choice, easy or hard?"

"As much as I'd like to help you, I'm going to have to decline."

I shrugged, "Oh well, your choice."

I walked over to him, straddling him while taking his cuffed hands in mine. I managed to get his pinky finger out of his clinched fist and put the knife to his finger. He started screaming and thrashing, and suddenly I was pulled off of him by my mom and Dimitri. Dimitri looked over and saw that nothing was wrong with his finger, then back at me, shock on his face. The fake Dimitri sat there writhing in pain as if his finger was lying somewhere other than being attached to his hand. Dimitri looked at me again, a puzzled look on his face before realization could set in, I walked back over to the fake Dimitri.

I crossed my hands over my chest again, still holding the knife, "So are you going to tell me now, or do I need to remove another finger?"

He was sobbing, "I'll tell you. I'll tell you anything you want, just make the pain stop."

I laughed a little, "Tell me what I want to know, and I'll make it all go away."

He swallowed, trying to ease the pain, "They're in a cabin on the outskirts of here. It's about four miles south outside of the city limits. There's a dirt road that leads to it on the left right after a billboard advertising the Mirage hotel. That's all I know, I swear."

I looked at him for a moment, then nodded at Lissa. She let go of the compulsion and the fake Dimitri looked down at his hand, the pain suddenly gone. He looked back at me, then back down to his hand. He did it for several more minutes before he looked back at me with a puzzled look on his face.

I laughed, "You're not the only one who knows how to fool someone. Now to see who you really are."

Before he had a chance to protest, I walked over to him and pushed his head down, using the knife to scrape the little piece of mask-like skin off and letting the little charm fall out. What I saw next shocked the hell out of me. Not only was it _not_ who I would have expected it to be in a million years, but I had gotten into a _situation_ with him, like the one in the hotel, before. Only he wasn't pretending to be Dimitri, and Dimitri had actually caught us. I had only been back at the academy for a few weeks at that point.

Jesse Zeklos

**So there it is folks, chapter 11. Was anyone as shocked as I was that it was Jesse Zeklos? I totally wasn't thinking of him as being the other Dimitri until halfway through writing this chapter then I was all "OME! It totally has to be Jesse!" and well, that's how we got to where we are. So did Dimitri hear everything that Rose told Lissa? Did Lissa leave the door open, or did someone else *cough* Dimitri *cough* open it? I dunno, I guess you'll have to read the next chappie to find out. I'm working on it right now, I promise. Btw, I'm writing a lil one-shot song fic about Rose x Dimitri, so watch for it. It's going to be called: I don't believe you. So please R&R and lemme know whatcha think =) Toodles. Oh, and I'll try to update by Sunday, but I make no promises.**


	12. Chapter 12

**For starters, I'm soooooooooooooo sorry for not updating in over 2 months. I was in a play so play practice got really hectic and I didn't have time, then some really personal stuff happened and I just finally got rid of my writer's block. So without further ado...here's the long awaited chapter 12! As always I do not own Vampire Academy (although I will own Last Sacrifice when it comes out Tuesday. LOL). Everything other than my twisted story line belongs to the wonderful and extremely talented Richelle Mead.**

Chapter 12

Jesse Zeklos. How in the _hell_did that happen? I would have staked my life on it being Ambrose. Maybe it's a good thing after all that I wasn't in a betting mood nowadays. How did a weasel like Jesse get in cohorts with someone like Victor? And for that matter, why would he want to do something like that to me anyway? I know I made his life hell after the blood-whore incident, but really? I had no affect on him now, and if anything he owed me since I didn't kill him when I had the chance. Looking back on it, maybe I should have.

"Alright Zeklos, I think it's about time you give us an explanation as to why you're in a league with Victor Dashkov."

Jesse looked up at me, still shaken from his little bout of compulsion," I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh don't try to pull that shit over on me. I don't see you since graduation, then suddenly you're pretending to be Dimitri so you can get close to me. You know where Victor is, and you're doing his bidding. You can see how a blind person would see the connection here." I had started to feel bad about having Lissa use compulsion on him, but after this...yeah I was able to shut that part of me up.

"I'm not working for Victor. I have no clue what you're talking about."

Dimitri, who'd been standing quietly against the wall up until this point, walked over and crouched down to look Jesse in eyes, "You're not working for Victor? Then how do you explain the fact that you knew me and Rose had had an intimate relationship? Only a few people knew and being that all of them are in this room now aside from one, I'm going to say that you're definitely lying to us. And there's nothing I hate more than a liar, besides strigoi of course. So I'm going to give you one chance to come clean and tell us what we want to know, because I can make sure your body is never found."

Jesse swallowed hard, "You wouldn't do that. Your a guardian."

Dimitri smirked at him, "Correction, I _used_to be a guardian. You forget, after I was turned back to a dhampir I wasn't reinstated as a guardian. The guardian laws no longer apply to me as a person. So are you going to tell us what we want to know?"

I looked at Dimitri then back at Jesse, "I don't think he's going to talk. The desert here around Vegas is pretty vast, they won't find him for weeks, and that's if anyone actually misses him enough to send a search party, which I'm sure isn't the case. Shall we go scope out a place to put his body?"

Jesse looked between the two of us hastily, "No, I'll talk. I'll tell you anything you want to know. Just please let me go afterwards."

"We'll consider it. Now start from the beginning and don't even think of leaving anything out."

"Okay. So about two months ago I was approached by some weird guy who looked off his rocker big time while I was on my way to visit my cousin at court. He told me he had a job for me which I started to brush off when all of a sudden it started to sound like a really good proposition and I should hear what he had to say. The guy told me that something major was about to happen and I was needed to carry out a mission for Victor Dashkov. Normally I wouldn't think twice about turning down anything having to do with Victor, but like I said, everything the guy was saying made me think of nothing else but carrying out whatever the guy told me. This was right around the time Belikov had been brought back to court. So a few days later, the guy comes back to me and says that in the next day or two the plan was going to be carried out and my role was to portray Belikov. I was to get close to you and make sure you didn't get in the way when the time came. He told me that Ambrose was going to kill the queen, and I thought later that it wouldn't happen and I was just imagining things, but the next day you were brought in for her murder. A guardian working for Dashkov was guarding Belikov and made him go missing which presented me with the opportunity to get close to you. I made sure to avoid Adrian and Lissa since it was revealed to me that they could see auras and would know I wasn't who I said I was. I helped Abe break you out and I was fixing to carry out the next part of the plan which was to get you alone and incapacitate you til Victor decided what to do with you, when you decided to go to Adrian in Vegas. I called Robert and told him of the plan and he said he'd handle it. While he was telling me this, I got the overwhelming feeling to see you suffer. I couldn't shake it, and so as to not give myself away I slept on the way to Vegas. Then we pulled up and the strigoi attacked, and the rest you know."

I couldn't fault a guy for being used via compulsion. I mean, he was weak minded, and spirit users did have an unnatural ability to wield it more effeciently. I looked at Dimitri who gave me a look that said he was thinking along the same lines as me. Still, it was something like this that could cause us to underestimate Jesse and play right into his hands. Although this reminded me of the whole blood-whore rumor thing. Mia had been the real mastermind behind that whole cluster-fuck and this was definitely something that seemed to be beyond his mental capabilities.

"Okay here's the deal. As convincing as all that was, we're going to keep you until we can figure out if you're telling the truth. Abe has graciously given me a host of guardians to use as I see fit, so you'll be taken care of." I looked around the room, "Dimitri, can we talk? I have something I need to discuss with you."

He glanced at me warily, "Sure, let's go out to the balcony."

I followed Dimitri out to the balcony, plans swirling in my mind. I closed the door securely behind me making sure no one would be able to hear us. I had a lot to tell Dimitri and I didn't want anyone to hear what I had to say.

"So what did you need to talk to me about?"

I shot him a look, "Look, I know I'm the last person you want to be around, and I understand and respect that. I'm going to try and hurry this whole thing up so we can all get back to our lives and you can go back to pretending I don't exist, but right now I need your help. Despite everything, you're the only person I can trust with what I'm about to tell you. I know how deep your need to protect Lissa runs so I know you're going to keep what I'm about to tell you from her. I don't care if you think she deserves to know or not, you are not to tell her under any circumstances, understand?"

"Okay, what is it?"

"So I'm leaving in a little bit and no, no one's coming with me. Obviously it's too much of a risk to have anyone with me since I can't be trusted to determine if they are who they say they are, so before I leave I need to let you know why so you can help me keep Lissa safe."

He looked at me skeptically,interrupting me, "And how do you suppose you're actually going to get out of here?"

"Stop trying to change the subject, you know me comrade, I'm nothing if not crafty. So back to what I was trying to say. So after the pre-trial, I was slipped a note by Ambrose from Tatiana. Now before you even try to point out that we now know he's the one who killed her, and that I couldn't possibly trust anything given to me from him as an actual fact, let me just reassure you that I've already thought of that. I'll address that in a second. So anyway, the note said that Lissa had a half-sibling out there somewhere and she had entrusted me to find him or her so Lissa could have her place on the council. That's how I know the note's not a fake, well other than the fact she was her normal self in the note, but because that explains why Victor is so interested in where I am, why he sent Jesse to get close to me, why I was almost led away from Vegas. He knows if anyone's going to find Lissa's sibling, it's going to be me so he's trying keep me from doing that."

Dimitri shook his head, "But if he's trying to keep you from finding this sibling, if there's actually one which I'm not convinced there is, then why even break you out of prison to begin with. There'd be no way for you to interfere while you're locked up."

I sighed in exhasperation, "Why else other than to get me away from court. He needed a distraction at court to keep what he was planning on doing there to remain unnoticed, and what better distraction than the Queen's murderer escaping and disappearing. It's a trick of the hand. He's got everyone focusing on his right hand when in actuality they should be more concerned with his left. So now everyone at court is freaking out about me being gone and by the time they realize what Victor's doing it'll be too late. And to top it off he thought that Jesse would be a sure thing. He knew that exploiting our past relationship, and making Jesse look and sound like you, I'd be distracted enough and trusting enough to not question him leading me off from the path I was originally headed on."

"Yeah, but he had his spies at the court. He would've known that we didn't have a relationship anymore so why make Jesse look like me, why not Adrian since he's the one you're with?"

"Are you really that far into denial, why not? Sure he had his spies at court, but he knew something that you keep denying as truth. I went to the ends of the world to bring you back. I risked not only my life, but the lives of my friends also, so he knew that even though you didn't feel the way about me as I did you, I'd do anything for you. I would risk anything for you given the chance. That's why Dimitri, because you may not be in love with me anymore, but a blind person could see that I'm still in love with you."

Dimitri looked down to avoid looking at me, "Rose-,"

"Don't. Look, I didn't tell you all of this to rehash our previous conversations since you were changed back. I know, Love fades, I'm telling you all this so you can see why I have to leave. All of you are a liability to me, and I'm a liability to all of you. I'm not going to tell you when I'm leaving in case you have some stupid idea to try and stop me, just know I'm leaving. I'm going to find Lissa's sibling and then I'll come back and we'll take it from there. I don't know when I'll be back, but I'll keep you all updated through Adrian."

"Rose, I can't let you do this alone. You're going to need help. Let me come with you. I promise I won't get in your way."

"I can't. I need you here with Lissa. She needs the best protection available, and as much as I'd like to stay and do it, I know that if anyone can protect her, it's you. You're the only one I'd trust her with."

"Rose, you can't do this alone."

"Look, comrade, I know you're only wanting to help for Lissa, and I respect that I really do. But I'm not budging on this. You know how stubborn I am, so just accept defeat and get over it. By you staying here, you're helping Lissa more than you know. She's going to need someone she can trust, someone she can confide in and talk to. And by me not being here, that's going to have to be you. She's already going to be worried sick about me, and wonder how I'm doing, do you really want to do that to her too? You pledged your life to her, do you really think you'd be a good asset knowing that you too are putting her through what I am, wondering if she's being protected, or if she's in trouble? No, you'd be distracted and if you've taught me anything it's that being distracted can cost you dearly."

Dimitri looked at me, triumph shining in his eyes, "So, aren't you going to be distracted as well? You're going to feel the same way I would if I was going with you. There's no reason why I can't go with you, we could help each other stay focused."

"That's where you're wrong. I went weeks without being with her when I was looking for you back in Russia. Those weeks have prepared me for what I have to do now. Besides, she'll be with you, so I have nothing to worry about."

The triumph quickly faded from his eyes, replaced with something else that I couldn't place before his guardian mask slid fully back in place. "There's no changing your mind on this is there?"

I shook my head, "No, I'm sorry. I have to do this for her. She's felt alone for so long, I can't keep something like the chance to know her brother or sister from her. All I ask is that you don't tell her why I left when she asks. I want to find her sibling before I get her hopes up. Will you do that for me?"

"I will, I promise." Suddenly, he grabbed me and pulled me into a hug. "Please be safe, Rose. Be safe and come back...for Lissa's sake," he added hastily.

I was shocked that he was holding me, and dreading when he'd let me go at the same time. "I will try. I don't know what's going to happen, so that's all I can promise."

He was still holding me, so I hugged him back, not wanting to let go. I knew that letting myself feel hope was dangerous at this point, but not knowing what my future held beyond today caused my reason to go out the window. Not caring what the consequences were, I made a split second decision. I pulled back, reached up, and kissed him. The scent of his aftershave filled my nose, his lips were as soft as I remembered, and then he was kissing me back. I didn't know how I could have ever thought that Jesse was anywhere close to Dimitri. This kiss nearly knocked me off my feet. There was such longing in this kiss, and not just on my part. His hand moved up my back into my hair, and suddenly the kiss went from being gentle to being fierce. It was as if someone had lit a fire and it was consuming us, as we tried to pull each other closer. Before I knew what I was doing, I pulled away and ran inside, fumbling with the sliding door in my haste to get away before he could stop me. If I stayed out there kissing him for one more second I would change my mind about striking out on my own and I just couldn't risk that. Not now.

I went and sat on my bed, waiting for the right time to leave without being noticed. Luckily my room was positioned in such a way that I could slip out without anyone noticing I was gone for hours. I sat there, still feeling Dimitri's kiss on my lips. If I survived long enough to get through this without being hauled back to court and executed, I was going to have to have a serious talk with him. If anything, this just complicated our already complicated relationship even more. Ugh, the things I did to myself.

Finally the time came for me to leave. I slipped out of the hotel room unnoticed, and made my way down to the street. I couldn't believe that a whole day had passed by so quickly. The first rays of sun we just peeking over the horizon as I headed away from the hotel. I had just made it a block when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I was spun around, and suddenly I was looking into the eyes of a 6'7 hot Russian god.

Well, this was certainly going to complicate things.

**So there it is. If all goes well since I am once again free and writer's block free, I will hopefully have this story finished by Dec. 7. I'm fixing to start on the next chapter and if my mind allows, I shall be posting at least 2 chappies everyday til it's done. I make no promises however. So plz R&R. Love ya guys and thanks for all the reviews encouraging me to get of my butt and put this chappie up =) All my reviewers are the BESTEST! Seriously =)**


	13. Chapter 13

**So here's the next chappie my lovelies. It's on the short side, but I wanted to make sure I got a chappie up today. I'm about to start on chapter 14, so if it all goes well, I should have it up by midnight or at least by tomorrow morning at some point, then I should hopefully be posting 15 & 16 tomorrow as well. Here's to hoping. So I'll stop gabbing on so you guys can get your read on. As always I own nothing by my twisted plot line, everything else (yes that includes Dimitri :-[) belongs to the wonder and extremely talented Richelle Mead.**

Chapter 13

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. After he promised me he'd stay with Lissa, after he _promised_ that he'd take care of her for me while I was out trying to find her sibling and clear my name, he followed me anyway and he wasn't even sneaky about it. There was no covertly following me from town to town until we were both a safe distance away and then letting me know he was there. No, he waited a block and a half. A block and a half, and I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts that my normal Dimitri alert didn't even register. Hastily I looked around and pulled Dimitri into an alley.

I dropped my voice so we wouldn't be overheard in case he was followed, "What in the hell do you think you're doing, you're supposed to being guarding Lissa, remember? Is this how you keep you're promises, because I can see that Lissa's in a world of hurt if your vow to protect her is anything like the promise you made me not even five hours ago?"

Dimitri looked at me dryly before answering, "Technically I never promised to stay behind and protect Lissa. I promised you I wouldn't tell her why you left when she discovered you were gone, which I won't have a problem doing since I'm going to be with you." I started to interject when he added, "And don't start the whole protection thing again. She's in a hotel room with Christian, which helped save your butt on more than one occasion, a slew of guardians, not to mention your mom is in that room. She's safer than the Queen in there."

"Well that's not very reassuring since someone was able to get into Tatiana's room, kill her, and plant evidence to blame me and she was surrounded by the best of the best when it came to guardians."

"Ah, Rose, I've truly missed your sarcasm and cynicism. You know what I meant. She's safe, don't you trust your mom?"

"Of course I do, it's just that when it comes to Lissa's protection, I trust you more. Lucky for you we're only a short distance from the hotel so you can turn around and go back. You're presence here is not needed or welcome."  
Dimitri grabbed my arm, "Rose, I'm not leaving. You're going to need help, despite what you may think, and I'm not going to let you go off by yourself with only Adrian as a way of communication with you. I'm going with you and that's final."

"You know, I'm really starting to miss the days when you wanted nothing more than to stay away from me. Look, comrade, I don't want you with me."

He looked at me, raising an eyebrow, "Well last night on the balcony would suggest otherwise."

My mouth dropped open. I couldn't believe Dimitri said that. He was always the voice of reason in situations like this, not pulling one-liners that were totally something I would say. Maybe he was right, maybe he had changed.

He sighed, "Look, whether you want me with you or not, I'm coming with you. You can take my help or complain about it, I don't care, but I'm going to come so you might as well resign you self to the fact that I'm coming and let's get a move on before everyone realizes we're skipping out on them." He moved his hand from my arm and placed his palm against my cheek.

And that's when my resolve snapped. I didn't care that we were in an alley, or that I had more pressing matters to attend to, or even that I should be really mad at him for not doing what I asked. I reached up and kissed him, winding my hands into his hair. His arms wrapped around my waist pulling me closer, and suddenly I was up against a wall of the alley, Dimitri pulling my legs up and wrapping them around his waist. I kissed him harder, putting everything I had been feeling for him since that night when Lissa turned him back. It felt so right being in his arms, like I had been missing a piece of myself that finally came back, as if I had been drowning up until that point and I was finally able to breathe again. We finally broke away from each other, stepping back to give each other some space.

I looked up at him, "May I ask what the hell that was, not that I'm complaining?"

A small smile crossed his lips, "You tell me, you're the one who started it."

I shook my head and rolled my eyes, "Yeah I know that, but I want to know why you didn't stop me since you don't feel anything for me anymore. And for that matter, why did you kiss me back last night too?"

He took my hand, caressing my palm, "As much as I'd like to have this conversation with you, this is not the time or place. I promise you though, we will discuss this. There's something that I need to set straight, something I told you that wasn't necessarily true."

"Really? Well, I suppose I have something to look forward to now." I laced my fingers through his and led him out of the alley. "So since there's no getting rid of you, " I shot him a smile, "I guess you should know the plan."

"That would be nice. I don't really like going into things not knowing what's going on."

"I have a lead as to where we might find some information about Lissa's sibling. You coming with me might have an advantage I didn't think of. You are pretty scary when you need to be, and I can use that to my advantage."

"So where are we headed?"

I looked over at him, "To this little cafe I know of. We start there, and hopefully by some miracle we can get a lead that will point us in the direction we need to go."

"Sounds good."

We made our way to the little cafe just as it opened. We grabbed a table in the back so we could go unnoticed, well as unnoticed as a 6' 7 person sitting with a 5' 7 person could. We ordered a couple of drinks, then sat back and waited. I was supposed to meet someone here that Adrian had connected me with. He had given me the information he had collected while I was waiting for the opportunity to leave. In fact, other than Dimitri, he was the only one who knew I was going. Our drinks arrived, and I sipped my slowly, hoping to pass more time. I was about to give up and leave when the person walked in. I only knew what she looked like because of the file. She looked at me as she walked in, and started toward us.

She stopped right in front of me, "Rose I presume?"

I stood up and extended my hand, "Yes, Lillian is it?"

She took my hand, shaking it before we both sat, "Yes. I thought you were going to be alone."

I shot a look over at Dimitri, "So did I. This is Dimitri. I promise that, as with me, anything you say will be confidential with Dimitri as well."

She looked between the two of us before setting her purse down on the table, indicating that she would stay, "So what is it I can do for you Rose?"

"I was wondering if you have ever heard of anyone named Eric Dragomir?"

She looked confused for a moment, "Yes, why do you ask?"

My heart rate kicked up a notch, "It's recently come to our attention that he had an illegitimate child. Do you know if this is true or not?"

"I do know of something like that. Now my question to you Rose is this...What do you want with my daughter."

**Yeah, didn't see that one coming did ya? Yeah well me either, not until right before I had them going to the cafe. So are you curious to see what's gonna happen next? Well stay tuned my lovelies, chapter 14 is coming to you shortly. Please R&R and if you have any ideas, feel free to pm me or post it via review. You guys are the bestest =)**


	14. Chapter 14

**So as promised, here's another chappie for you guys. I'll start working on 15 & 16 tomorrow since I'm going to be bored all day with nothing to do. I hope you enjoy. As always I own nothing, nadda, zilch...well aside from my twisted sense of humor and the pain I put these poor characters through. Everything else, even the hot Russian god belongs to Richelle Mead.**

Chapter 14

Daughter? How was I this lucky? I guess going through all of the crap in the past 5 months that I did paved the way for at least one thing to go right in my life. I mean, I gained love, lost love, gained it back only to have it thrown back in my face, thrown in prison, escaped, got attacked by a small army of strigoi, and then the answer to my prayers falls right into my lap. Now I'm not a the church going, praise the Lord type of person, although like the relationship with my mom, it was getting better I suppose. I was going to have to thank Him for this one.

"Daughter? You mean you are the person Eric had an affair with?"

She studied me for a minute, "Now I know where I recognize you from. You're Lissa's friend aren't you?"

I almost choked on my drink, "You know about Lissa?"

"Of course I know about Lissa. Eric was going to bring her to meet us, but then he was in the accident. He was a good man, Rose. Please don't let this sully your opinion of him."

I looked down at my cup not sure how to go on with what I wanted to ask her, "Well, it's kind of why I'm here. You see, I don't know how familiar you are with Moroi royal laws, but in order for a family to be represented in the council, there has to be more than one surviving member, a quorum if you will. Lissa is now old enough to sit on the council, and as far as the court is concerned, she's not eligible since she's the only surviving Dragomir. But they don't know what I know. Lillian, I really need to find your daughter for Lissa's sake. Not only for her to get her seat on the council, but so she can know that she's not alone anymore. Lissa has felt alone for almost three years now, and I want nothing more than to ease that feeling from her. I don't know where you stand on having your daughter involved in that kind of life, like the life Lissa leads, but I can promise you this. If you allow me the opportunity to find her, and unite her and Lissa. If you allow me to introduce your daughter into the life she was born to be in, I will make sure she's protected, and that she never wants for anything."

"As much as I want to keep her away from the fall out that's sure to come when they realize she's the illegitimate child of Eric, I can't deny her the chance to know her sister. I'll tell you anything you want to know."

We sat and talked for a while longer, then she had to leave. After she left, me and Dimitri started making plans for what to do next, and within the hour we were at the air port in Las Vegas, getting ready to leave. I don't know how Dimitri did it, but when we got to the counter to purchase our tickets, he produced a fake I.D. for me, for which I was thankful for. We bought our tickets and boarded the plane. Adrian had once again blessed me with a pretty hefty sum of money, so I wasn't worried about funding this expedition. I was worried about how I was going to convince Jocelyn, Lissa's half sister, to come with us and help Lissa however. Lillian had promised to call her and talk to her before we arrived to get her, and assured us that Jocelyn would be more than happy to help in any way possible. It was shocking how much Lillian and Lissa's mom looked alike. They both had golden hair, long slender builds, the same pouty lips, but where Lissa's mom had hair that was straigh, Lillian had wavy hair that fell just below her chin.

When we were a few minutes out, Dimitri turned toward me, "Rose, can I talk to you about something?"

I looked over at him, "Only if you can answer me one question so I don't get duped like I did the last time you, or someone looking like you rather, came along to save the day."

"Okay shoot."

"After the attack on the academy, before the raid on the caves, we went for a walk and we discussed some things that would impact our future. What were they?"

He grabbed my hand and started tracing strange patterns with his thumb on my palm, "We talked about how even though we both loved each other, we couldn't be together again until after graduation, and I was going to ask to be reassigned to court somewhere so we wouldn't have to worry about not protecting Lissa if the need arose."

"Okay, so what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

He seemed to hesitate, "Rose, I've lied to you."

"About what?"

"About not loving you anymore. I pushed you away, and I said all of those hurtful things, and I was sure that I could stick to it this time and just let you go. I was sure I could watch you go off with Ivashkov and watch the two of you get married and have kids and I'd know that it was for the best because he could give you all the things I never could. And then the royal guard came to take you to prison for Tatiana's murder and I threw all the reasoning I'd been trying to believe out, and I knew I'd die before I let anyone take you away. I would have fought all day long until everyone of those guardians were incapacitated, and I would have taken you somewhere to be safe, but you stopped me. Despite everything I had put you through before I was turned strigoi, while I was trying to kill you, after I was turned back, you still put me before yourself and I was dumbstruck. I couldn't understand how after everything I did to you in Russia, everything I did to you after Lissa brought me back, you'd still be able to love a hideous person like me. But from the moment I saw you walk out of the court room, I knew that there was no denying you anymore. I can't be without you, Roza. I tried and I failed miserably. I was on my way to see you when I was blindsided and Jesse took my place. I don't expect you to just take me back or to even want to hear anything else I might have to say, but I wanted to be honest and let you know why I'm here. Yes, I want to do what I can to help Lissa, but I want to do it by your side, if you'll have me."  
I stared at him for a moment, trying to stop the tears that threatened to fall, "Are you crazy? I've wanted to be with you for so long only to have the opportunity torn away from me time and time again. I want to be with you Dimitri. Of course I'll have you. You know, you could have just started with that to begin with and saved yourself a lot of time."  
He shook his head at me, "Ah, Roza, leave it to you to once again say what I wanted to in a few sentences what took me a whole page to say."

"Well what can I say, I'm one of a kind."

He laced his fingers through mine, "That you are, Rose, that you are."

The rest of the flight went smoothly. We fine tuned our plans for the next few days, and planned on how we were going to tell Lissa about Jocelyn. The plane landed, and we headed out to try to get a taxi. We were almost to the doors when the last person I would have ever expected to show up stepped right into our path.

"Rosemarie Hathaway, what do you think you're doing?"

**I wonder who it is. Dun dun dun *que creepy music*. Any thoughts? Lemme know by reviewing...you know you wanna. Don't be afraid to give in to peer pressure. It's the good kind. LOL. So until next time my lovelies, some food for thought: Has anyone seen the teaser trailers for the Last Sacrifice from Penguin Australia? And if so, what are you're thoughts?**


	15. Chapter 15

**So this chapter took me forever to write, and it was pretty hard to keep it moving so keep that in mind while you're reading. So as it stands now, I'm putting 15 up today. 16, 17, and 18 up tomorrow, 19 and 20 up Sunday, and 21, 22, and the Epilogue up Monday. I sure hope that's how it works anyway, but we'll see. I will definitely finish this story and have the chappies up before I read Last Sacrifice so the book doesn't influence where I'm going with the end. So without further ado...chapter 15. As always I own nothing, other than the first 5 books b/c I bought them. Richelle Mead owns everything, even Dimitri's duster. I own my twisted plot line that I'm making her beautifully crafted characters endure.**

Chapter 15

I remember during my travel to Russia when I encountered Dimitri in Novosibirsk for the first time since he was changed. I couldn't believe I was actually seeing him, that I was close enough to touch him. At the same time I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that he was standing in front of me as a strigoi, and that's when my heart stopped. It's funny what you remember during times of stress, kind of like now, because standing in front of me was the last person I wanted to see at this moment, the one person I would go to the ends of the earth to protect. Lissa.

"Well, Rose. Are you just going to stand there looking at me like I'm a ghost or are you going to tell me why you decided to leave me behind and run off with Dimitri?"

I looked between Lissa and Dimitri, "How did you find us? Better yet, how did you get here so fast?"

Lissa rolled her eyes, "Stop avoiding the question Rose. Why did you run off with Dimitri?"

"I didn't run off with Dimitri. I ran off and Dimitri followed, there's a difference."

She sighed, "Thank you captain obvious, I realize that. How did you think we found you so fast? I saw Dimitri leave, then Abe helped us track you. I figured he ran off after you, which was confirmed when I went to your room shortly after. So why did you do it?"

I glared at Dimitri, "I knew this would happen. I knew if the both of us went missing at the same time they'd catch on, but _no_, you just had to ignore me like always. Now look what happened. Lissa is here, without protection I might add, all because you had to find a loop hole in your promise to me."

Dimitri gave me a look, "Rose, maybe you should just tell her. She's a lot stronger than you give her credit for."

"I know she is. I just wanted to have it fool-proof before I got her hopes up."

Lissa glared at the two of us, "Would you two stop talking about me like I'm not here. Just tell me and get it over with."

I sighed, "Look Lissa, I know you're not going to want to hear this, or even want to believe what I'm about to tell you, but it's completely true. Liss, you have a sister, well half-sister.  
I know you don't want to believe it, but your dad had an affair with someone named Lillian. She met us just this morning and-,"

Lissa interrupted me, "I already know all of this."

I looked at her in shock, "You already know? How in the hell did you find out?"

She shook her head at me like I should have already figured this out, "Lillian came and found me. It wasn't that hard. Once she knew you were my best friend, she figured I was in Vegas somewhere and then she found me. Not really all that complicated actually."

"Well that solves the you finding me part. So how'd you get here so fast?"

Lissa smiled at me, "That's easy, it pays to be best friends with the great nephew of the former queen who just happens to have access to a private jet."

Adrian, I should have known. Leave it to the unstable, drunk spirit user to rat me out. I was gonna have to a chat with him soon. Something hit me suddenly, "You mentioned a 'we'. Tell me you didn't bring anyone with you."

She started to blush a little, "Well I wasn't just going to leave Christian and Adrian behind."

I shook my head, sighing, "Of course you couldn't. That would make everything too easy." I looked around for Christian and Adrian, "Speaking of which, where is tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum?"

"Christian and Adrian are collecting our bags, and then they're supposed to meet me here. Are you going to see Jocelyn now?"

"That was the plan. I take it that the three of you are coming with us."

Lissa shot me a smile, "Of course. I want to meet her too you know. It's only right that I'm there when she's asked to give up everything for me. I think maybe we can get to know  
eachother, maybe start a relationship."

"Maybe. You're taking this a lot better than I thought you would to be honest."

"Well, I'm not saying that it's not hard to think that my dad would do that to my mom, but if I've learned anything since their deaths it's that nothing is as it seemed to be with my family."

Adrian and Christian picked that time to show up. Adrian walked up to me and put his arm around my shoulder. I couldn't help but chance a glance in Dimitri's direction then to gauge his reaction, and it was as I suspected. He had his guardian mask in place, and you had to really know him to know that he was seething.

"Hey little dhampir, fancy meeting you here."

I grabbed Adrian's hand, pulling his arm off from around my shoulder, "Really? Remind me later to kick your ass for not stopping Lissa from following me and Dimitri."

He put on a wounded look, "It wasn't my fault. It's not like I could really do anything. You know Lissa, once she's determined to do something there's no stopping her. Now wouldn't you rather me help her than let her go off and do something drastic by herself."

Christian spoke up then, "Rose just get over it already. We're here, so let's get thing over with so we can get back to proving your innocence and getting on with our lives. Face it, the real reason you're so upset is because we came and interrupted your alone time with Dimitri."

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever Christian. The reason I'm upset is because the two of you brought Lissa out of the protection of the hotel. Did you even try to talk her out of it?"

Dimitri touched my arm looking at the three of them, "Look, it doesn't matter now what did or didn't happen," he looked at me, "They're here now so like Christian said, let's just get a move on and go see Jocelyn. She'll be expecting us soon."

We all piled into a taxi, and headed toward the outskirts of town. The country side was beautiful, and as much as I loved big cities I could appreciate the rolling hills, green grass, and the openness surrounding us as we drove along. We drove along for another hour before we reached the address that Lillian had given us. There was a long winding drive that led up to a white plantation style two-story house. The taxi turned onto the drive and I couldn't help but be awed as we wound our way toward the house. On each side of the drive were huge, maple trees, which made the drive more like a tunnel. We finally pulled up to the house, and got out of the car. We decided that me and Dimitri would go up to the door while Lissa, Adrian, and Christian stayed with the car. As we walked up the stairs to the door, I started to get nervous. What if she didn't want to help Lissa? What if she slammed the door in our face? How would Lissa handle it?

I pushed those thoughts aside, taking a quick look at Dimitri, and knocked on the door. I heard some shuffling before the door opened. What I saw totally caught me off guard. The person standing in front of me almost looked exactly like Lissa, from the golden blond hair to the jade green eyes. The only difference between the two of them was that Jocelyn was a couple of inches shorter and Jocelyn looked more like Eric.

Jocelyn looked between me and Dimitri, "Can I help you?"

I extended my hand toward her, "I'm Rose Hathaway, I believe your mom called ahead for us."

She took my hand and shook it, "Yes she did, I've been expecting you. " She glanced behind us at Lissa, Christian, and Adrian. "You can tell your friends to come up here. They don't  
have to wait down there by the car."

Dimitri went to go get them, I turned back to Jocelyn, "So, how much did your mom tell you about why we're here?"

"She told me everything. I've wanted to meet Lissa for the past two years. I'm willing to face the back lash from this if I have to. I just hope that me and Lissa can have a relationship."

"I'm sure you guys will, she's really excited to get to know you."

"I sure hope so."

They made their way up the steps, Lissa in the rear looking nervous as she made her way to Jocelyn. Shock registered on her face as she saw just how much alike they looked. They stood there and studied each other before Lissa got up the nerve to talk.

"So you're Jocelyn? I'm Vasilissa Dragomir, Eric Dragomir's daughter." She held out her hand nervously toward Jocelyn.

Jocelyn smiled tentatively at her taking her hand and shaking it, "Yes, I'm Jocelyn. I've been looking forward to meeting you my whole life."

Shock crossed Lissa's face before she composed herself, laughing a little, "Really? Well, I'm glad to hear that. I was really nervous to meet you. I thought you might not like me since I got to be with my dad most of the time."

Jocelyn laughed, sounding very similar to Lissa's laugh, "No, I never felt like that. Eric made it clear about what had to be done. I was nervous too. I thought you wouldn't like me because your dad had an affair with my mom."

Lissa laughed, "Well, I'm glad neither of us harbor any ill feelings toward the other. Hopefully this can be a start to a long, lasting relationship between us."

"I hope so too. Forgive me, here I am keeping you all outside. Please come in, make yourselves at home."

She ushered us inside, and lead us down a hallway to a very spacious living room. Lissa and Jocelyn began talking to each other, Lissa explaining why she had come originally, about the quorum, and her desire that Jocelyn come and take the rightful place by her side at court. We all talked, getting to know Jocelyn. Finally, she decided to come with us, and Lissa helped her pack some of her things to take with her. Soon, we were all huddled into a large SUV that belonged to Lillian, heading on our way to the airport to fly back to Vegas to meet back up with Abe and my mom. No sooner had we pulled up to the entrance of the airport that the driver suddenly started the SUV again and drove off heading in the opposite direction than where we came from, two other people popping up from the back, guns shoved against Jocelyn's and Lissa's heads.

I looked at the two new members of our party, "What in the hell?"

The guy with the gun against Lissa's head spoke up, "We're taking you to go meet someone. I don't want any funny business. Any of you so much as twitch toward these two or the driver and we won't hesitate to pull the trigger. Understood?"

I was suddenly reminded of Spokane when we were taken by the humans. I couldn't catch a break lately. Something was going to have to give soon.

I looked at Lissa, seeing the stark terror on her face, "Understood. No one will try anything." I looked at Christian, "I'm starting to think you're bad luck. Every time you come with me to do something, we wind up with psychos holding guns to people we know."

Christian rolled his eyes, "Do you really think now is an appropriate time to be making jokes?"

"Who said I was joking."

The car fell silent after that, and we just sat there as we were driven from our one chance at clearing my name. They didn't bother to blind fold us, not that I cold have accurately found our way back anyway with all the twisting and turning that was going on. After two more hours of driving, the SUV finally came to a stop in front of a cabin. This all seemed to familiar to me. The door opened and we were being drug out and pulled toward the house. I caught Dimitri's attention for a split second before I heard a voice that sent chills down my spine.

"Ah Rose, what a pleasure to see you again. You too Vasilissa, it's truly been too long."

I looked around trying to find the source before he stepped through his barrier of guardians.

Victor.

**Dun dun dun...now what's going to happen? Well if you wanna find out keep reading! The next three chappies are due up tomorrow, and I'll try not to disappoint this time. LOL. Thank you to all the people who've added this story to your alerts and/or favorites. It really means a lot to me. Also a big shout out to all my reviewers, you guys truly make writing this story worth it. I love you guys. Well, until the next installment, I shall say good-bye my lovelies. Don't forget to R&R.**


	16. Chapter 16

**So this one's on the short side, but I couldn't leave you guys hanging. I think writer's block is trying to set in, so I will be spending all day writing tomorrow. 17-20 will be posted tomorrow. They may not be long chappies, but they will be up. So without further ado: I own nothing, Richelle Mead owns all the good stuff...like Dimitri ;)**

Chapter 16

I was pushed forward toward the house, Victor's guardians pulling the rest of us in tow behind me. Before we were led inside, we were all blindfolded and cuffed with flexi-cuffs to prevent our escape. As I was drug along, I tried to remember every twist and turn so in the miraculous event of our escape, I had some sense of direction to help get us out, but the further into the house we were drug the more lost I got. The house didn't look as big from the outside as it was apparently on the inside with all the stairs we were being led down. After about five more minutes of walking, I was shoved roughly down into a chair my hands being cuffed again behind the chair, the blindfold getting yanked off of my head. As my eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of the room, I chanced a look around. We were all in the same position, cuffed to a chair. The situation eerily reminded me of Spokane, and that's when something clicked, something I didn't even know about until now.

Victor walked in with six guardians in tow, stopping right in front of me and Jocelyn. He looked each one of us over before his gaze finally rested on me.

"This couldn't have worked out better for me. I guess I have you to thank for it Rose, you sure have saved me a lot of time."

I glared up at him, "I don't have a clue what the hell you're talking about, unless your talking about soon to be untimely death, in which case...you're welcome."

Victor laughed weakly, and I couldn't help but be glad his sickness was starting to take hold of him again. "I'm referring to you finding Lissa's sister. I thought I was going to have to set out and find her on my own, but you led me right to her. Did you think that I wouldn't have someone following you?"

"Well I try not to think about you at all, unless it's about me running a stake through your heart. But I guess you'd have to have a heart for me to run a stake through it. Hmmm, I guess that's how you've lived this long."

The smile tightened on his face, "I forgot how mouthy you could be. No matter though, I can solve that easy enough." He nodded toward someone in the corner and sudddenly Lissa was struggling to breathe. To make matters worse, I was sucked into her head so it felt like I was suffocating too. Victor nodded again, and suddenly both of us were able to breathe again. He looked back at me, "Now are you going to behave yourself and be civil or shall I have my man continue?"

I took a ragged breath, "Stop, I'll behave."

Victor smiled again, "That's better. There's nothing saying you can't be civil, despite the situation you find yourself in."

"Why exactly are we here anyway, why not just kill us off?"

"Well that would defeat the purpose now wouldn't it. You mean more to me alive than dead...for now." Victor started to pace in front of all of us, glancing at each of us individually as  
he passed us. "What, no questions Rose? Usually you'd be demanding answers from me, calling me on my injustice, making threats about what you would do to me if something happened to Lissa. Surely getting you lover back hasn't swayed your loyalties has it?"

I glared at him, ignoring the Dimitri jab, "So what is your plan Victor? I mean there has to be a reason why you need all of us here, and I'm sure you're just _dying_ to tell us your plans for world domination. I already know half of it, I just can't see where we fit in."

He studied me for a moment, "You already know half of it? Do tell, Rose, let's see if your on the right track."

"Well, if I'm correct, you're the one who's been orchestrating all the strigoi attacks, starting with the Badica house. You used the attacks to stir up the moroi and guardians so you could carry out the next phase of your plan, and when I got too close, you had me dealt with."

Victor clapped delightedly, "Well, you're smarter than I gave you credit for. I have been the mastermind behind the attacks. I needed the council distracted, and I needed Lissa to be the voice of reason. Tatiana was always weak, giving into the council's demands until our entire society was weak-easy prey for the strigoi. I could't let that happen, and then Dimitri became a liability because of you so I had him taken care of in turn getting rid of you. I thought that maybe you wouldn't make it back, but once again you proved not so easy to get rid of. Lissa was going to stand for everything I wanted for my people, and you kept getting in the way, so I decided to get rid of you while getting rid of Tatiana. And it almost worked too, but the Zeklos kid had to go and mess things up. I've got it fixed this time though, you won't be getting a second chance at this."

"So what are you planning on doing to me?"

He stopped in front of me again, "All in good time Rose, all in good time. You see, in the next few hours, I shall be on my way to the court where there shall be an attack like no other. You see, in four days time, I shall march on the Royal Court with my army of strigoi and demand my rightful place as king. Then when I've assumed my place I shall massacre the entire council to set an example of how weak we have become. And when the dust has settled a bit, I shall send a message back here, and all of you except Lissa and Jocelyn shall be killed. It's such a waste, but I cannot have you all getting together and stopping me. You all shall go down in the history books as martyrs to the cause. The brave few who sacrificed themselves for the good of moroi and dhampir people alike."

I laughed, "You really think that's going to work? The moroi are never going to lay down and let you take control no matter how many strigoi you have in your army. You're just wasting your time."

"That's where you're wrong Rose. If they won't give me what I want, then they shall all be killed. In war, sacrifices must be made. Sometimes things just can't be helped."

"You are truly a sick sadistic person. I can't believe I ever thought there was good in you."

Victor shook his head, "As much as I would love to keep having this conversation with you Rose, I'm afraid I must leave. I have a throne to assume, so I will just have to see you on the other side. I'm sorry it has to end this way for you, but like I said, sacrifices have to be made."

Before I could say anything else, Victor left the room, his guardians in tow. I sat there trying to think, but found it nearly impossible to even breathe with the overwhelming amount of fear I was feeling through the bond. It was so strong, I was almost sucked into Lissa's head. This was so not the way I had planned on ending this. I was not going to die cuffed to a chair. I was going down fighting for the ones I loved, now all I had to do was think of a plan. Before any of us could talk someone else entered the room. Ambrose.

"Hello Rose, I'm so glad I got to see you again."

I felt anger starting to well up in me, "Oh I bet you are. So how long after you met me did you decide to kill Tatiana?"

He laughed as if this was suddenly funny, "Rose, this was planned before I ever met you. You just happened to be the best scape goat for it all. Despite everything, I really do like  
you. I like all of you, well aside from Adrian."

Adrian looked wounded, "What did I ever do to you?"

Ambrose looked over at Adrian, "Nothing really, you just remind me of Tatiana and I couldn't stand that old self-righteous bitch. Always telling me what to do, having to actually have sex with her ugly ass. The only enjoyable thing about it was the endorphin high I got from her bites. But that's beside the point." He looked at me again. "I wish things could have turned out different for us Rose. I think you, me , and Lissa would have been great friends under different circumstances. Please believe me when I say it's nothing personal."

I just looked at him, "Why are you doing this? Why kill Tatiana, and seriously, why work with Victor? He's just going to kill you when he gets what he wants."

Ambrose laughed, and I started to doubt his mental stability until he spoke, "Ah Rose, you're not seeing the full picture here. Victor is just a pawn here. You see, after this mess with the council is taken care of, I'm going to have Victor killed."

"Then why are you even working for him then?"

Ambrose shot me sadistic grin, "So when I kill him I can be king."

**So the truth at last. That Ambrose is a shifty dude. LOL. Anyway I'm outtie my lovelies to go brainstorm and write and do some more writing after that. Until next time, enjoy and if you're feeling froggy...read it again. Please R&R...I love hearing from ya =)**


	17. Chapter 17

**So I think I might have confused a few people with the last chapter. Hopefully this chappie will clear things up. Three more chappies to come today, promise. It might take a little bit, but I promise this story will be done by the end of the day tomorrow. Someone asked if it was just Rose, Lissa, Adrian, and Jocelyn or if it was everyone...well in answer to your question, it was everyone. I just didn't have any of their input last chappie. So without further ado, here is chapter 17. As always I own nothing. Richelle Mead owns everything, even Dimitri (she's so lucky. LOL).**

Chapter 17

"You're kidding me right? There is no way that the moroi people will ever accept a dhampir as their ruler, much less a blood whore. I don't care what you do, it's not going to work."

Ambrose glared at me, "That's where you're wrong Rose. You see, Victor is stupid enough to think that the strigoi here answer to him, but he is sorely mistaken. They take orders from me because I'm offering the more appealing agreement, all the moroi they can get their hands on. I could care less about the moroi. All they've ever done for us is sentence us to a life of servitude and give us an early death sentence. Why should we die for them when they do nothing in return for us?"

Before I could answer one of Victor's guardians came in. "Ambrose, Victor is ready to leave. He says to meet him out front in three minutes."

Ambrose looked back at him nodding before turning his attention back to me. "Well, the time has come. Unfortunately I shall not be seeing you again, so I must say good-bye here. I hope your death comes swiftly for your sake."

He turned and left, and I couldn't get my head to stop spinning. There had to be something we could do to get out of here. I glanced around the room for the hundredth time since they ripped my blindfold off. Again, I came to the same conclusion-no escape except through the solitary door that had two guardians on each side. This was hopeless.

I turned my head toward Dimitri, "So any plan yet as to get the hell out of here and stop a massacre from happening, because I've got nothing?"

Dimitri looked back at me, "I'm thinking. I don't have anything at the moment, but I'm sure I can come up with something soon."

Lissa looked between the two of us, "Isn't there someway to get these cuffs off?"

I looked at her, "Well there is, but it hurts like hell and I wouldn't suggest it."

Christian looked over at me, "Well if you're up for it, we can pull a Spokane on you. You've been through it before, and then you can free the rest of us."

I smirked at him, "Really, that's what we're calling it these days, the Spokane? Well, if we're going to do this, let's get it over with."

Lissa looked at Christian appalled, "Absolutely not. I'm not going to let you inflict pain on Rose like that, I don't care how desperate the situation. It's just not going to happen."

Adrian looked between Lissa and Christian, "I'm going to have to agree with Lissa on this one. Rose is much too pretty to hurt. If you're going to inflict pain on someone, do it to Dimitri. He's the less pretty of the too."

Dimitri rolled his eyes at Adrian, "Rose, if you don't want to do it, I will."

Jocelyn looked confused, "What's a 'Spokane'?"

Christian looked at her, "A while back me, Rose, and a couple of our friends were captured by some humans for a group of Strigoi in Spokane, Washington. The only reason we were  
able to escape like we did was because I pretended to bite Rose while I was actually heating up the cuffs."

"Oh, well why do something so painful. I can get them off for you with a lot less pain."

I looked over at her, "How do you propose doing that?"

Jocelyn looked over at me, "It's one of my talents. I can break things if I think about them hard enough."

Something came to me, "So what element did you specialize in exactly?"

"I didn't, why?"

"Well, I'll explain it to you at a later point. How about breaking these cuffs for me?"

I sat there, suddenly feeling a slight snap and my hands were free. I looked over to where Dimitri was and saw that his had snapped open too. He met my look, and that understanding we had kicked in. I nodded and we shot up out of our chairs and took out the two guards next to the door. Lissa, Christian, Adrian, and Jocelyn we right behind us as we sprinted out the door with me and Dimitri in the lead. We somehow wound our way through the house without meeting any more guards. We burst through the door that we were led through first, and into the night air. It must have been about four in the morning. Abandoned a short way away was the SUV we were brought here in. Dimitri went ahead to make sure there wasn't anyone in it, nodding back to us to tell us it was okay to come. We piled in and raced toward the airport. Luckily we got there in time to buy tickets for the next flight to Vegas. I called Abe to let him know we were on our way back, then went to rejoin my friends. As we sat on the plane waiting for it to take off, I thought about everything that had happened over the past few weeks. I sat between Lissa and Dimitri wondering if this would be the last time we would get to sit like this or if things would take a change for the worse after today.

Jocelyn leaned over across the aisle to talk to me, "Are you going to explain why you asked what I specialized in?"

I looked over at Lissa, "Do you want to handle this or do you want me to tell her."

Lissa looked at me, "I think I should since I know the most about it." She turned to look at Jocelyn, "Recently we've found that people with above and beyond type abilities seem to  
fall under the same element, which you seem to have also specialized in."

"But I didn't specialize in an element. I told Rose that."

"Actually you did. You, like myself, have specialized in a rare element called spirit. We can do all sorts of things. I have the ability to heal things, even bring things that were once dead back to life-,"

"And I can dream walk, and see auras, " Adrian cut in.

Jocelyn looked over at Adrian, "You are a spirit user too?"

He turned on his charm, "Of course. I've known you were a spirit user since we met you, as I'm sure Lissa has also. There is no way that someone as beautiful as yourself, could be anything other than a spirit user."

The conversation took off from there, Jocelyn asking questions about spirit, Adrian and Lissa doing their best to answer them. It was nice to see that Adrian was trying to move on, and I was happy that it was with Jocelyn. She seemed really nice, and maybe she could get Adrian to stop that incessant drinking and smoking that he enjoyed so much. I looked over at Dimitri to see that he had been watching me. I smiled at him and settled back into my seat for the rest of the ride to Vegas.

We landed just as the sun was peaking over the horizon when the plane landed. We were standing out front trying to get a taxi when I noticed something was off. I turned toward Dimitri and pulled him aside from everyone else.

I lowered my voice so the others didn't hear, "Does everything seem off to you?"

Dimitri glanced around, "A little. What do you think it is?"

I shook my head, "I don't know, it just seems off, like something big's about to happen."

"I don't know what it is. Let's just keep a look out, maybe it's nothing."

"Maybe."

We went and rejoined the group, finally getting a taxi. There wasn't enough room for all of us to fit, so Dimitri decided to stay with me calling ahead to the hotel so Abe's guardians could make sure they got back safely. We stood there for a few more minutes before another car pulled up, only it wasn't a taxi. Suddenly a swarm of guardians surrounded me and Dimitri, cuffing my hands and shackling my feet. I looked at Dimitri and saw that he wasn't being cuffed too. A look shot between us saying that he'd get me out of this, but I shook my head.

"Rosemarie Hathaway, we're taking you back in for the murder of the Queen."

I locked eyes with Dimitri, "Let them know what happened. Get there quickly."

I was shoved forward and into the car, guardians sitting on each side of me. As we drove off, I saw Dimitri standing there alone, following the car with his eyes before we dropped out of sight. Well it looked like I got the answer to my thoughts earlier.

Things were only going to get worse.

**I know, it's super short, but I promise the next few are action packed and super long...well long-ish. I'm starting on 18, 19, 20 now and I won't post them until all three are finished. Look for 21, 22, and the Epilogue due up tomorrow. Until next time my lovelies, pleas R&R. You guys are totally the best!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Here's part 1 of the next three chapters. 19 and 20 aren't as long as I thought they'd be, but I think you all will like them...hopefully =) Tomorrow (well later today actually) I shall be posting the end of the story, just in time for Last Sacrifice to come out! My how time flies. So, my lovelies, without further ado here is chapter 18. As always I own nothing but my twisted plot line. Everything belongs to the awesomely talented Richelle Mead. Enjoy =)**

Chapter 18

It's funny how fate will keep playing games with you well after you want to stop. Here I was sitting in a cell, trying to figure out how to get the hell out and once again coming up blank. And the real twist to the whole thing: I was in the same cell. It was as if there wasn't any other cell available. I had heard through eavesdropping on the guardians outside my cell that Lissa had come back to court with everyone, including Jocelyn, and had revealed that Jocelyn was her half-sister. That caused quited the scandal, and after some testing on her, it was confirmed to be true. Shortly there after, Lissa was granted her spot on the council. I still found it hard to believe that I had been back at court for a week. It seemed like ages ago that I had escaped, even though it was only two weeks ago. The only good thing about the whole situation was that Lissa and the gang, including Abe and Dimitri, weren't implicated in my escape. They had just assumed Dimitri was there to bring me back and since there was no proof of Abe being anywhere near me, they couldn't pin anything on him. So I was locked away again, awaiting my trial. I knew there was no chance for escape this time. Not only had they doubled the number of guardians to stand outside my door, but they doubled the number of guardians on every floor leading to the court outside. Not even Lissa could make a dent in that amount of coverage. And since being returned, Lissa wasn't allowed to visit me, no one was unless it was Abe or a guardian. I'd seen my mom a few times, but she was always busy so didn't get to come visit very often. The only person I was able to see on a regular basis was Dimitri, and that was a catch 22. Don't get me wrong, I loved seeing him everyday, but every time I saw him I knew it could very well be my last. The trial was supposed to happen any day now, and I knew that once I was declared guilty I wouldn't get a reprieve for a few days before the execution, it would be right after to set the moroi people at ease that Tatiana's killer had been brought to justice. Not that they would be executing the real killer, but that was a different story.

I had been screaming at the guardians for the past week that it wasn't me but Victor and Ambrose, mainly Ambrose. I also told them, with Dimitri backing me up, about Victor's plan to be crowned king but it only fell on deaf ears. I knew they wouldn't believe me, but I thougth for sure they'd atleast listen to Dimitri. I knew that Lissa had been doing her part to convince them also, but they wouldn't listen to her either. They just though it was some desperate attempt to help me escape again. They were wasting valuable time to prepare for what was coming, just like Victor knew they would. Day by day I was starting to doubt the intelligence of the majority of moroi people. I started to wonder why I even wanted to protect a race that would be that stupid, that maybe the were about to get what they deserved, and I had to stop the directions of my thoughts. I couldn't think like Ambrose. I began to realize that I felt like this because I was absorbing Lissa's darkness from her without knowing it, which meant she had been using magic. When I asked Dimitri what she was doing, he always avoided answering. She was up to something, and I had to figure out what. I tried slipping into her mind, but she was doing a very good job at blocking me out. I didn't know she was able to do that, but apparently it was something she had learned. I had to figure out what they were up to before they did something stupid, like try to break me out again. I was something that she couldn't afford to be connected to at the moment. I needed her to be on the council so she could be the voice of reason at my trial, and maybe just maybe stop me from getting executed.

The time in here seemed to drag on and on, it felt like months but it could have been days or it could have been hours. I hated being in a cell. I felt like a caged animal wanting to rip someones head off for entertainment. Abe began to visit me several times a day, so I got the sneaking suspicion that the trial was going to be sooner than I had thought. We discussed several things, like the few days leading up to my arrest, witnesses that can vouch for my presence at the places I said I was. He was about to leave one day when I suddenly thought of something.

I rushed to my bed an pulled out the small piece of paper that had been my sanity mere weeks ago, "Abe before you go, do you think this could help?" I handed him the piece of paper. "It might prove that the Queen trusted me enough to know I wouldn't kill her."

Abe studied the note for a second, "Honestly it cold go either way. It could establish your innocence or put another nail in your coffin so to speak. Are you sure you want to submit this as evidence?"

I looked down to study my hands, "What else do have to lose? I'm already on death row, there's nothing more that they can do to me really."

Abe looked at the note for a second more before looking back at me, "Okay, if you're sure I'll submit this now."

"I'm sure. I sure hope that note does what it's supposed to do."

"Me too, little girl, me too." Abe seemed to hesitate for a second before speaking again, "They set the date for your trial."

"Really when is it?"

He looked away, "Tomorrow morning. They set it for tomorrow morning at nine."

I looked up at him stunned, "Tomorrow morning? So soon?"

"Apparently they think you're a flight risk, and they want to get you tried and convicted before you have the chance to run again."

"That's absurd. There's no way I can escape again."

"I know that, and you know that, but they refuse to see reason. We've all told the council about Victor and his plans, but they refuse to listen. I think we'll be able to do something at the trial to prove your innocence. Just try to get some sleep."

And he left without saying another word or letting me say anything. A thought suddenly occurred to me. Maybe Tatiana could help me after all, I mean she was killed violently after all, and if there was one perk to the whole seeing ghost thing, it was finding out information when you needed it. I tried to relax, and let the barriers I had held on to down. There was a flurry of motion in front of me. I called out to Tatiana like I did Mason after the academy was attacked. Slowly the other ghosts started to disappear, leaving only Tatiana.

"Fancy meeting you here. Long time no see, your highness."

If ghosts cold roll their eyes, she would have done it at that moment. She fixed me with a look that seemed to ask what I wanted. She was as frigid in death as she had been in life. It was nice to see that some things didn't change.

"So I go to trial tomorrow for your murder, anything you'd like to tell me before I go? Anything helpful that I could use to help prove my innocence and point them toward the real killer?"

She nodded her head then drifted toward the back wall of my cell. With her finger, she started writing something. When she was done she drifted back to where she had been originally. I glanced back at the wall and nearly fell over. On the wall was written something I never wanted to read again.

_Rose, you're going to have to stop the trial from going on as planned tomorrow. Victor is planning on attacking during your trial, and if they refuse to give into his demands he's going to kill Jocelyn and Vasilissa. I don't know how you're going to do it, but you have got to exonerate yourself before the trial begins. Vasilissa's life depends on it. I will not have the future ruler of the moroi executed._

"Lissa's supposed to be the next queen?"

The queen shook her head.

"Is she going to be the queen after the next chosen monarch?"

She nodded, then without warning she disappeared.

"Thanks for the help," I said sarcastically.

I tried to think of what I could do to free myself, but nothing came to me. Before I knew it, guardians were coming into my cell to take me to trial. On the way there, I kept thinking of what I could do to postpone the trial, even for one day, but I couldn't focus on it. All I could focus on was the doorway looming up in front of me that led to the courtroom that would be where I was sentenced to death.

Abe was waiting for me as I was led in. I stood as the council entered the room, each family represented. And despite the magnitude of what was about to happen, I couldn't help but smile a little as I noticed Lissa up there representing the Dragomir line. The moroi acting as judge since there wasn't a monarch entered and stood behind her chair. I chanced a glance back behind me and locked eyes with Dimitri. He had the same intense look in his eye as he did the last time I was in this room, the one that said he'd take down everyone in this room if I wanted him to. I smiled a little at him and turned my attention back toward the front of the room. I had no sooner turned back around when the doors to the courtroom doors burst open and in walked the devil incarnate.

Victor

**Dun dun dun...whatever shall happen next? Well click the next button next to the chapter selection and find out! Next chapter to be up within the next few minutes followed by chapter 20. Hope you enjoyed it. Please R&R. And I'm not just saying this, you guy totally rock! Thank you to everyone who's reviewed, added this story to your alerts and/ or favorites, told your friends about it. You guys have made writing this story worth while =)**


	19. Chapter 19

**Here we go again. I'm just gonna shut up and let you guys read. Richelle Mead owns everything but my plot...and Jocelyn. Anywho...enjoy =)**

Chapter 19

Victor strode to the front of the room and stood in front of the dais where the judge was, still standing. Guardians were starting to move when Victor held up his hand. They stopped as if they were attached to some kind of string, like they didn't have a will of their own. Victor looked around the room at everyone before looking at the council.

He looked at Lissa, "Ah, Princess, I'm glad to see that there's finally some representation for the Dragomir line. You truly represent your family well.

I felt fear shoot through the bond before she spoke, "Victor, what do you think you're doing here?"

He laughed, "Why I'm here to claim what is rightfully mine."

Prince Ivashkov spoke up, "There is nothing here that belongs to you, unless it's a cell. You have no claim to anything. You're nothing more than a common criminal."

Anger shot across Victor's face before he put a smile on his face, "I'm hardly common, and there is something here that belongs to me. It is well known that Tatiana was going to name me as her heir before I was diagnosed with my illness. I want what's due me, I want the throne.

Nathan laughed, "You must have went crazy in Tarasov. There is no way we're going to give you of all people the throne."

Victor began to smile bigger, "That's where you're wrong Nathan. You see, even as we speak, there is an army of about three hundred strigoi at the gates. I'm going to give you thirty minutes to talk amongst yourselves and come to the right decision by giving me the throne. If you comply, I shall send them away. If not, I will let them in. The choice is yours."

Victor walked out the same he came in. As soon as the doors shut behind him the court room errupted in chaos. People there to witness the trial started running about like chickens with their heads cut off. Suddenly the fact that I was accused of murder no longer seemed to bother people. Dimitri made his way through the crowd and knelt down by my chair.

He took my hand in his, "This isn't going to be good. I can already see that the council is going to refuse his request. This is going to be a massacre. Just look at the amount of people in here, there's no way out but through the doors and I'm sure that's where the strigoi are going to be waiting."

"What are we going to do?"

"We need to try to get the council to get these people out of here while they still have the chance. Who knows what's going to happen when he gets the bad news."

I looked around hastily, "I do. Dimitri, you need to promise me something."

"What?"

"No matter what happens, no matter what I do, you take Lissa, Christian, Adrian, and Jocelyn out of here. Put them up somewhere safe. I talked to Tatiana today. She told me that if the council refuses Victor, he's going to kill Lissa and  
Jocelyn. I'm going to do my best to get Lissa away from the council when Victor comes back in, I need to know she's going to be safe or I won't be able to do what I have to do. Do you promise?"

He looked down at our entwined hands, "I can't leave you to do this on your own."

"Dimitri, please do this for me. Promise me you'll get them to safety and not come back for me. Promise me."

"I promise."

"Good. I want you to stay with them as long as possible. I know you're going to be needed here, but keep them safe for me first."

"I will."

He stayed there with me, keeping an eye on Lissa. The council looked heated, some looking like they just wanted to give in to Victor to stop the bloodshed from happening, some looking like they'd rather die that see him as king, and some looking like they could really care less. Only Lissa looked composed, although the bond let me know that she was a wreck of emotions. From where I sat I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I could see Lissa being the voice of reason for all of the council members. If they knew that all of them were meant to die in the next few minutes, I wondered if they would be deliberating so much. The clock kept ticking down, and soon time was up. Guardians were herding people out a set of doors at the back of the court room when a huge bell started to chime. Victor arrived back in the room soon after that.

Victor walked back to where he had been standing previously, "So I take it you all have reached a decision?"

A woman stood, I couldn't remember who she was, only that she represented the Badica house, "Yes we have reached a decision."

A grin lit up Victor's face, "And what have you decided?"

The woman looked at her other council members before looking back at Victor, "We have decided that we are not going to grant your request, nor do we plan to in the future."

The grin fell from his face, "So be it." He glanced behind Lissa, "Ambrose, please remove Vasilissa from the council, we'll deal with her later." He looked at the rest of the council members, "I hope you realize that you just signed your death warrants. Now!"

There was an explosion of glass as suddenly at least twenty strigoi burst into the room through the windows, nausea shooting through my stomach. I shot out of my chair racing toward Lissa as Ambrose drug her out of the room. The room was in total chaos as guardians sprung into action to defend the moroi against the impending strigoi, moroi were rushing about for their lives, some not successful. I noticed Victor slip from the room before I focused on getting to Lissa. I was almost to where the council sat when a huge figure loomed up in front of me and I skid to a halt. I was unarmed, and I looked around the room for something I could use for a weapon. I spotted my stake on the table and darted around the figure to get it. I turned and was definitely shocked. In front of me was something I never thought I'd see.

It was Jesse, only unlike the last time I saw him, he was now a strigoi.

**I know! The douche bag just won't go away! What will happen to him? Hit the next button next to your chapter selection and see. I really hope you guys are enjoying this. I'm really sorry that these are so short. I promise that the last three shall be action packed. So please R&R and thank you to my avid readers. You guys are so freaking awesome! Just thought you should know =)**


	20. Chapter 20

**Alright, this is the last one for the moment, and by moment I mean today. It's 3 am, so don't expect the last three chappies to be up until later today...say after 5 pm. Don't forget to R&R, tell your friends, whatev. As always I own nothing but Jocelyn and my twisted plot (and the first 5 books on my shelf). Richelle Mead owns everything else. So without further ado, chapter 20.**

Chapter 20

Jesse seemed to look at me strangely before starting the attack. I dodged nicely before landing a kick to his side. It barely phased him, but seeing as he was a newly make strigoi, it was enough to distract him. I used that to my advantage and swiped my stake across his cheek. He let out a blood curdling scream before backhanding me across the face. I stumbled a bit, but didn't lose my balance. I struck out with my stake catching him on the arm, and he screamed again.

"You little bitch, I'm going to kill you. If you thought what I did to you in school was bad, wait until I get ahold of you."

I swiped at him with my stake again, but he dodged it this time, "Oh, I'm scared now, " I said sarcastically, "I thought you were pathetic when you were just a worthless douche bag of a moroi, but now I realize you're more pathetic."

That enraged him, and he made his move leaving his chest open, which was a big mistake. I didn't pass up this opportunity and slid my stake smoothly into his heart, the light fading from his eyes, and pulled it out as he began to drop to the floor. I looked around and my heart nearly stopped. There were so many bodies littering the floor, but I couldn't stop to see if any were people I knew. I ran out of the room slipping into Lissa's head to see where they were taking her. I saw that she was in a church, so I slipped out of her mind. The nausea hit me a second before I saw the strigoi. My body took over, and before I knew it I had him staked through the heart, and was pulling my stake out and moving on. I rounded the corner and sensed someone in my peripheral. I was just about to pull out my stake when I realized it was Dimitri, and he wasn't alone. There were two strigoi trying to get an opening to take him down. I made a split second decision and took the strigoi on the left. After a few traded punches, I staked her through the heart and turned to help Dimitri with the other one only to find him pulling out his stake from his strigoi's body.

"I thought you were supposed to be with Adrian and them."

He wiped his arm across his forehead, "I was but we got ambushed. Abe and his guardians took them to safety while I stayed here to take care of the threat. Thanks by the way for the help."

"No problem. Let's go find them."

We took off running down the hall running outside. The sun had risen, the strigoi disappearing so they wouldn't get burnt to a crisp. I stopped and looked around at the destruction around us. Bodies were littered all over the place, some moroi, some dhampir, but mostly they were strigoi. I started walking toward a building when I nearly tripped over a body. Looking down I saw it was Hans, his eyes staring straight ahead like he wasn't expecting the attack at the time he died. I knelt down and closed his eyes. Standing back up I couldn't shake off what had happened. I didn't know how much time I had to find and save Lissa, I knew I had to find the others and devise some sort of rescue plan before it was too late. I turned suddenly and sprinted toward the guardian building, Dimitri at my heels. I pushed open the door and was met by sixty or so guardians huddled together looking over floor plans to the court. I spotted Eddie toward the back of the room huddled next to another guardian discussing something. Me and Dimitri pushed our way through the crowd toward him.

He looked up as we got to him, "Hey Rose. Guardian Belikov. Have either of you seen Hans? We were supposed to meet him here, but he hasn't shown up yet."

I exchanged looks with Dimitri, "He's dead. We found him about twenty yards from the building."

"Well that makes sixty of us then. It's a shame, we've lost a lot of good guardians today because of this. It sure is going to be hard to replace them."

I found a chair, and pulled my self up on it, getting everyone's attention. "Look I'm not going to waste time trying to blow sunshine up your ass. We've got a serious situation on our hands, and not nearly enough time to properly come up with a plan. This is how it's going to be. We're going to have to split into two groups. Ten are going to come with me, and we're going to the church to rescue Princess Dragomir. The rest are going to go with Guardian Tanner to head off the Strigoi. It's nearly dark, so we're not going to have much time to get in place. Do I have ten volunteers to come with me to save the princess?" Ten people rose their hands, including Dimitri and Eddie. "Alright then. Guardian Tanner, take your people and get ready. They're coming, and they're going to be many in number trust me." Mikhail took his people and left leaving only the eleven of us. "Okay so here's the plan. We're going to fight our way toward the church. I'm sure we're going to meet a lot of opposition on our way there. Try not to engage in a fight unless it's absolutely necessary. Don't worry about the others, the sooner we rescue the princess, the sooner we can come back and help. Everyone understand?"

I got a chorus of nods, and we headed outside. I was at the rear, about to head outside when Dimitri pulled me aside pushing me against the wall. He bent his head down and kissed me fiercely, trying to pull me as close to him as possible. I kissed him back, wrapping my arms around his neck. He pulled back too soon, wrapping me in a hug.

"I love you Roza. No matter what happens tonight, always remember that."

I kissed his cheek, "I love you too comrade, with everything that's in me."

He glanced toward the room we had just left, "You did good in there. You reminded me of your mom."

"Thank you. This is one time I don't mind being compared to her."

He took my hand in his, pulling me toward the door, "Are you ready for this?"

I took a deep breath, "As ready as I'll ever be."

He shot me a look, and dropped my hand as we opened the door and jumped into the fray.

**What shall become of the dynamic duo? Tune in later today to find out. I promise that this story is ending today at some point. There's still plenty of time to put some action in there for ya. So please R&R, and don't forget...you guys are so freaking awesome, you rock my socks. LOL. Until next time my lovelies =)**


	21. Chapter 21

**Alright my lovelies. This is the beginning of the end. Only two more chappies after this and it'll be done. It's been a joy to share this story with you all, and hearing all the feedback from everyone. I don't think that the next chappie or so is going to be super long, but I'm doing my best to make it worth your while. As always, I own nothing (except Jocelyn and the plot). Everything belongs to the wonderful and talented Richelle Mead (yes Dimitri fans, even the Russian god himself). So without further ado, here is chapter 21.**

Chapter 21

The sight when we made it outside almost made me come to a complete stand still. The sun had set while we were inside making plans, giving the strigoi army laying in wait a chance to get throught the gates. It was total chaos as I glanced around quickly. Guardians, new and old alike, were darting into frays, screams filling the air either because of strigoi getting staked or guardians taking their final breaths. I glanced over at Dimitri, then took off running in the direction of the church, the guardians with me following. We had only made it about twenty yards when we were ambushed by a group of twenty or so strigoi. I pulled out my stake and landed a kick to the stomach of the closest one to me. It barely made an impact, but it gave me the opening I needed run my stake through his heart. I was kicked in the thigh by a strigoi, and managed to right myself before I fell. I turned toward my attacker and saw that it was the servant girl from Russia. I remembered all the pain she had help cause me, and took no hesitation in throwing a punch at her. We traded blows, then in her haste to end it, she lunged for my throat leaving her chest open, and I staked her cleanly through the heart, seeing the light fade from her eyes. I looked around to see that we had sufficiently taken out the twenty that had attacked us, we had only lost one of us.

We took off again, dodging the individual battles around us and headed for the church. When we were a few yards away, I stopped looking at the remaining guardians.

"The battle is pretty serious over there," I nodded toward the area we had just ran through, "I just need two volunteers to continue on with me, and the rest of you can go back to help the other guardians." Dimitri and Eddie were the first to step forward. "Thanks guys," I looked at the remaining guardians, "Thank you for all of you help. Be careful, and go kick some strigoi ass for us."

They all nodded, and sprinted back to the fight. We headed into the church doing our best to be as quiet as possible in case there was someone guarding the hallways waiting for us. As we crept along, I had the strangest feeling of being watched. I kept chancing a glance over my shoulder, but I did't see anyone. We stopped so I could check on Lissa to get a better idea of where she was at. I saw through her eyes that they had her in one of the lofts that were over the sanctuary. She was tied to a chair, Victor and Ambrose in front of her. She looked around the room and I was able to see that Jocelyn was tied next to her. It seemed that Ambrose and Victor were in a heated argument about something that I could barely make out with Lissa's hearing.

Ambrose gestured toward the door, "They're down there now. We need to send someone down there before they can make it up here. She brought the Russian with her, and the Castile kid too. She didn't come unprepared like you thought."

Victor looked at him indulgently, "Ambrose, she's not goint to be able to get up here. We've got several guardians waiting for her. You didn't think I would just let her waltz up here did you? I knew she'd bring Dimitri, and I prepared for it.

She won't be getting up here anytime soon, and if by some miracle she does, we have the upper hand."

Ambrose looked very angry, "I think you seem to underestimate Rose. She'll stop at nothing for the princess, and if you think some poorly trained guardians are going to stop her than you're more of an idiot than I originally thought. If you aren't going to take care of the problem, then I will."

He stormed away before Victor could say anything and I pulled out of Lissa's head. I could feel the fear for her and Jocelyn hum through the bond. _I'll be there soon Lissa, don't worry_ I thought.

I looked at Dimitri and Eddie. "There's guards on all the floors starting with the next floor. Ambrose is on his way down. Here's the plan. Eddie, you go back the way we came and find a different way around to the next floor. Dimitri will go the way we were headed and if all goes well the two of you can ambush the guards before they can catch on to what's happening. Do the same thing on the next two floors until you make it to the fourth loft. Wait for me there unless you think you need to go in there. I'll wait here for Ambrose and meet you there when I'm done."

Eddie nodded, "Alright, I'll see you soon Belikov." He looked at me, "Be careful Rose, and try not to give him too much hope in winning."

I shot him a smile, "Now what's the fun in that?"

He laughed and headed toward the hallway we had just come from. Dimitri pulled me into a quick hug and kissed me swiftly. "Try not to keep me waiting too long, Roza. I may come back for you if I do."

I took his hand and squeezed it gently, "I'll end it quickly, you know me. I learned from the best."

He turned to walk away, and called back over his shoulder, "I love you Roza."

I called after him, "I love you too comrade, with all my heart."

I had nothing left to do but wait, and it was killing me. I wanted to get this over with so I could get to Lissa. Fortunately I didn't have long to wait. Shortly after Dimitri disappeared up the stairs, Ambrose showed up. He looked me up and down as if sizing me up, not that it would do him any good. I'd make sure of that.

He started toward me slowly. "So it's down to me and you. Where'd your hunting party run off to? They couldn't stand watching you die so they ran off?"

I glared at him, "Something like that. So let's get to this already. I've got an appointment to keep, and I'd rather not be late."

I had barely finished my sentence when he lunged at me striking me across the face. I recovered quickly and kicked him in the knee. I heard a pop but didn't stop to see if he was okay. This wasn't a sparring session, he wasn't one of my friends. This was a life or death battle, and I wasn't going to lose it. I used his distraction to my advantage and struck him in the face. He wobbled a bit but recovered before he fell. He swung at me again but I dodged, landing a kick to his side. He grabbed my leg before I could put it down, and made to knock me to the ground, but I pulled my leg toward my chest and pushed back causing him to drop my foot. He wasn't putting much weight on his left leg, I couldn't tell if it was a ploy or if he really was hurt, but I didn't really care. I punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. For a dhampir he wasn't that good of a fighter. I could see why he decided to become a blood whore. There sure wasn't a future for him as a guardian.

He looked up at me, "You're better than I thought you'd be."

I laughed, "Yeah, well you should see the guy who trained me. He's just as good if not better."

He kicked out at my leg hoping that our conversation would distract me. I dodged the attack easily and took the opportunity to make my move to end this. I straddled him, jamming my stake in. It wasn't the most humane way to do it, but after everything he'd done to me and my friends, I didn't really care.

Just before he took his last breath, he said the one thing I didn't want to hear. "You're too late, he's probably going to kill the princess before you get there. You've killed me, but you've failed and you can die knowing that." And with that he died.

I spared him one more glance before I sprinted up the stairs. Each floor I came too I saw a littering of bodies scattered around the floor. I didn't see Dimitri or Eddie among them so I figured they we both waiting for me. I made it to the door where I was supposed to meet them only they weren't there. _They must have went inside_ I though. I could feel the fear surging in Lissa, but I couldn't risk slipping into her mind right now. I burst through the door and came up short. Eddie was tied to a chair, blood running from his nose. Dimitri was also tied to a chair, surrounded by five of the guards. Both looked up when I burst in. I spared a short glance before I focused on Victor.

Victor who had Lissa in front of him, a knife held to her throat.

**So I'm off to write the next chapter. I'll post it as soon as I'm finished. The rest of the story should be up no later than 3 pm so you all can have plenty of time to read it before Last Sacrifice comes out tomorrow. Yeah I know, I can't believe it's finally here! So please R&R. I love you guys. Keep reviewing, it really makes my day =) Until the next chappie my lovelies.**


	22. Chapter 22

**So this is it, just the epilogue left and then this story shall be done :-( I hope you all have enjoyed reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it. You know the drill: I own nothing, Richelle Mead owns everything. Without further ado...chapter 22**

Chapter 22

Fear in overwhelming amounts surged through the bond nearly knocking me over when I entered the room. Seeing the knife at her throat, I could see why. Well that explained why the fear factor shot up a thousand fold. I looked toward Jocelyn, seeing her stare at me, and a thought came to me. A miracle I needed to get Lissa and her out of here. I put my arms together and gestured to her with my wrists. She looked at me confused for a second before it dawned on her what I wanted her to do. Hopefully she could do it quickly. All of this took place in the span of a few seconds, so I hoped Victor didn't notice.

Victor looked at me, "Rose, I'm glad to see you made up here alive. You saved me from having to kill him off myself. Thank you."

I glared at him, "I don't want your gratitude. I'm going to give you one chance to let Lissa go, and I _might_ let you live. I probably won't, but I'll pretend to consider it."

He laughed at me, "You never cease to amuse me. How do you plan on doing it? Both of your accomplices are cuffed to a chair, and even if you did make it over to me by some miracle, I'd slit Lissa's throat. You have no chance whatsoever to win this time. "

I looked over at Eddie and Dimitri before turning my gaze back to Victor, "That's where you're wrong."

The room suddenly erupted in a flurry of movement. Dimitri and Eddie sprung out of their chairs taking on the guards around them. Suddenly one of the guards going for Dimitri burst into flame. I turned to find Christian and Adrian standing in the doorway. The guard fell to the floor, charred and definitely dead.

Christian looked over at me, "What, you weren't going to invite us to the party?"

I rolled my eyes, "You're supposed to be locked away some place safe not trying to be a hero."

"Well I wasn't going to sit on the sidelines when the woman I love was being held captive by some sick twisted psychopath."

"Did you really have to bring Adrian?"

Christian let out a short laugh, "No, but now let's just say we're even."

I looked back to where Victor had been moments ago with Lissa, but they were gone. I scanned the room to see Victor trying to drag Lissa out a side door, but she was resisting. Suddenly she pulled her foot down and smashed it down on Victor's foot causing him to release her. Her survival instincts must have kicked in because she ran faster than I had ever seen her move before away from Victor. I saw him start toward her, but thought better and kept heading toward the door. I saw Lissa run into Christian's arms before I took off running after him. He kept winding himself higher and higher into the church until we came to the attic. There he stopped and turned to face me.

"You won't win, Rose. I've thought of everything and no matter what happens here, you won't win."

I laughed, "I've already won. I've killed Ambrose, and I'm going to kill you. I will have brought Tatiana's killers to justice. That in and of itself is a victory. I don't know if you've noticed, but you're alone up here. No one's going to come to your rescue this time. Natalie isn't coming, no one is left to care about you, Victor. You've brought this on yourself."

Before I could make a move, he took the knife he'd held at Lissa's throat and threw it at me. The knife flipped over a couple of times in the air before embedding itself in my shoulder, dropping me to my knees. I pulled it out, grunting in pain as I rose to my feet. I didn't waste time, and walked over to Victor. He backed away from me, and in his haste to get away tripped over a raised beam in the floor. I crouched down and just as I was about to drive the knife home, I heard a loud sound like a bottle rocket exploding, and a sudden sharp pain shot through my body. I looked down to see blood beginning to leak out of my stomach, and saw the life slowly drain out of Victor's eyes. It took me a second to realize what had just happened. I had been shot, and the bullet went straight through killing Victor in the process. I looked over my shoulder to see Robert holding a gun, shock clearly written across his face. I didn't think he was counting on the bullet to go through me. I heard the sound of foot fall on the stairs as I lay down, the strength slowly draining out of my body. Robert seeing that he had killed Victor ran and threw himself out of the chapel's attic window. I couldn't find the strength to tell anyone to stop him before it was too late.

I didn't know how much time had passed, seconds or minutes, but suddenly Dimitri was there, holding me in his arms, racing toward the infirmary. The sun was rising as he burst out of the church with me in his arms, so there was no threat of being attacked by a strigoi. I was fighting to keep my eyes open when I suddenly felt a drop hit my face.

I looke up at Dimitri, trying to bring his face into focus,"Is it raining?"

"No, why do you ask," he replied without looking down, his voice strained.

"No reason." I tried to swallow before asking the next question. "I'm not going to make it am I?"

"Don't be ridiculous. You're going to be fine. I'm not going to let anything happen to you Roza."

I used what little strength I had left to put my hand on his face, "I don't think you have a choice at this point. Listen, I need you to promise me something."

"Anything."

"Take care of Lissa for me." I put my finger over his lips to stop him from talking, "Don't say anything, just promise me. I need to know she's going to be taken care of. Will you do that for me."

Dimitri stopped as we reached the infirmary, "Of course I will, not that it will make that much of a difference since you're going to be good as new in a few days."

I tried to smile, but wasn't sure my brain was sending the message to my mouth, "You're always so optimistic. It's one of the things I love about you." I pulled his face down toward mine so I could look in his eyes, suddenly feeling very cold, "Dimitri I...love..." but I never finished my sentence because my hand slipped from his face as the rest of my life force faded from my body.

I awoke to a bright light that burned my eyes. I blinked rapidly as my eyes adjusted to the light in the room I was in. I looked around seeing that the room was completely white with a dark oak door.

"Great, I've been institutionalized. That's just freaking fantastic, "I said out loud.

A voice spoke from behind me, "When did you start talking to yourself Hathaway? If you keep doing it, people are going to start thinking you're crazy."

I got to my feet, turning around to see who was behind me and saw Mason. "What are you doing here? I thought you were set free and all."

He laughed, and a touch of sadness swept through me as I remembered Spokane, "Let's just say I'm an ambassador of sorts for the great beyond. I've been keeping tabs on you, and you are way too early to be here."

"What in the hell are you talking about?"

He rolled his eyes, reminding me of the times we hung out together, "You aren't supposed to be here. I don't know how you got in the way, but _you_ weren't supposed to get shot. That bullet was meant for Dimitri. You were just supposed to get stabbed, both of you would have been fine and so on and so forth. But somehow you managed to go and get yourself in trouble. I'm starting to think you just naturally attract trouble."

"I was shot?" Then suddenly the events of the past two days hit me like a tidal wave and I saw it like I was watching a movie. "Dimitri, he must be devastated. He's not going to do anything stupid is he?"

Mason shook his head, "No, he's keeping his promise to you. You're right though, he is devastated. The only thing keeping him around that infirmary is that promise he made you. They're still trying to revive you. Lissa's not doing too well  
either."

My head shot up, "What do you mean, she was hurt too?"

"Not exactly. It's the bond you two share. It's gone now and it's starting to take it's toll on her. Like I said, it's way too early for you to be passing through that door. There's so much left that you need to help accomplish. You and Lissa are meant to do great things for moroi and dhampir alike with the men you love by your side."

I sighed in relief, "Well there's not much I can do now. I'm dead or haven't you noticed?"

He rolled his eyes again, "Of course I've noticed you're dead. Haven't you been listening. You're dead, but it's not too late to save you."

I looked at him questioningly, "What do you mean?"

"You've only been dead for fifteen minutes. You've got fifteen minutes left before they give up. So it's up to you, do you want to stay dead and come with me or do you want to go back and life out the rest of your life?"

"Can I ask you a question first before I decide?"

He looked at me suspiciously, "Shoot."

"If I go back, how long will I have? How long will Dimitri have?"

He shook his head, "I knew you were going to ask that, and that's two questions by the way. I can't tell you specifics, but I can tell you this, the both of you live to be old, together. That's all I can really tell you."

I smiled, "I've made my choice. I want to go back. I got to see if all this me doing great things for moroi and dhampir thing is true."

Mason laughed, walking over to me and pulling me into a hug, "I wouldn't have thought otherwise, I just had to make sure you were given the choice. It was good seeing you again."

I squeezed him a little, "You too." I stepped back. "I'm ready to go."

He nodded, "Alright Hathaway. Try to stay out of too much trouble will you?"

I shot him my famous man-eater smile, "I make no guarantees, you know me."

And I faded back into darkness.

**There ya go. The epilogue is to follow shortly. So is anyone else as excited as I am that Last Sacrifice comes out tomorrow? I can't wait to see how this chapter of the Vampire Academey world is gonna end. So please R&R and if you feel like it, and haven't already, invite your friends to read this story. Until next time my lovelies =)**


	23. Epilogue

**This is it folks, the last chapter of Twist of Fate. I hope you all enjoyed this story. I'm sure this won't be my last visit to the VA universe. Thank you all so much for sticking with me, and reading & reviewing my story. You guys are truly the best. As always, I own nothing but Jocelyn and my weird twisted world I inflicted on our favorite characters. Richelle Mead owns everything else, even the Russian god himself Dimitri. Without further ado...the end.**

Epilogue

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep._

I woke up to the sound of the heart monitor suddenly jumping to life. I tried to open my eyes, but they felt like they were sewn shut. I finally decided to give up and suddenly I was sucked in to Lissa's head.

"She's alive, Christian are you listening to me? She's alive!" Lissa started toward the door.

Christian grabbed her arm, "Liss, I know you want her to be, we all do, but you heard the doctor, she's not coming back. She lost too much blood and even you can't heal that."

She snatched her arm from him, "I have healed that. That's how the bond formed in the first place, me bringing Rose back from life, but that's not the point. I feel her again. That void that's been in my head for the past twenty-five minutes is gone. She's alive."

I saw Dimitri's head shoot up, "Lissa are you sure?"

She looked over at Dimitri, "Yes, I'm one hundred percent sure. She's probably awake right now." She seemed to hesitate for a minute and I felt through the bond what she was feeling before she put it into words. "As much as I want to go in there, Dimitri, I think you should go see her. She probably wants to see you more right now anyway."

Dimitri seemed to hesitate for a minute before walking toward my room. I pulled myself out of Lissa's head and finally managed to open my eyes when I heard voices outside of my room.

"Guardian Belikov, you can't go in there. She hasn't been properly dressed yet."

I head him sigh, "I understand that, but I have it on good authority that she's not dead."

The nurse hesitated for a minute before speaking, "I know how much you cared for her, but she's gone Guardian Belikov. You have to let her go."

Finally I couldn't help myself, "Would you please let him in here? I'd really like to see him after the hell I've been through."

The door suddenly burst open and Dimitri rushed toward the bed, engulfing me in a hug.

"I thought I had lost you. Don't you ever think about putting me through that again."

I hugged him closer to me, "I won't, I'm sorry."

He pulled me into a kiss, and suddenly the world faded around us, and no one existed other than the two of us. I grabbed his head, deepening the kiss. His hand slid down my back as he wrapped his arms around my waist. The sound of someone clearing their throat brought us back to reality.

"I'm glad to see that your recent brush with death hasn't dampened your spirit little dhampir."

I picked my pillow up off the bed from behind me and threw it at him, "Don't you ever knock first?"

Adrian shot me a grin, "Not if I can help it. Lissa is practically bouncing off the walls to see you. Are you really going to deny her the chance to see you alive after the scare you gave everyone?"

"No, tell her to get her ass in here."

Lissa pushed Adrian aside and rushed over to the bed. Dimitri stood up so Lissa could hug me. As soon as I wrapped my arms around her she burst out into tears, sobbing into my chest.

"I was so scared that you weren't going to come back this time, Rose. I didn't know what I was going to do with out you."

I stroked her head to soothe her, "It's okay Lissa, I'm here now. Don't worry, I'm going to do my best to never put you through anything like that again. Promise."

She pulled back to look at me, "You better. It was horrible. I could feel when your heart stop beating because it was like a piece of my mind went away when your heart stopped. I never want to experience that again."

Christian walked up to the bed, "Well, I have a feeling Rose isn't going anywhere for awhile. She's kind of like a leech, you just can't get rid of her."

I punched him playfully in the arm, "I wouldn't say that, I'm more like the life of the party, something you can't live without. And if you ever compare me to a leech again I will make your life miserable."

He smirked at me, "And that's different from how you already make my life because..."

"Ha. Ha. Really funny. If you think it was bad before, you haven't seen anything yet."

We all talked for a while longer. Abe and my mom came to visit after while, bringing Jocelyn with them. Robert's body had been found in one of the flower beds of the church, on I had worked on during my "community serivce" after breaking Victor out of prison. There wasn't going to be a royal funeral for Victor or Robert. Ambrose's body was given to his aunt to dispose of, but from what I heard, she wanted nothing to do with his funeral. I was released into the care of Dimitri a few days after I woke up. Now that Lissa was on the council, things started to change. The age law was reversed, and an alternative law was put in place giving the moroi who wanted to learn to fight the opportunity. Finally things were settling down.

I was assigned Lissa's guardian along with Eddie. I knew that we wouldn't have a problem protecting her. Dimitri was reinstated as a guardian and was assigned to Christian along with Mikhail. That was going to be hilarious in the years to come I had a feeling. In a weird twist, Adrian and Jocelyn started dating and he cut back on the drinking which was a miracle in and of itself. My mom and dad seemed to be getting along better, so much better in fact that he actually got her to take at least one weekend off every three months. Things were definitely changing. As for me and Dimitri, well we decided to take the next step and go public with our relationship. And surprisingly it went over better than I thought it would. We had managed to work out our time off so we could both be off at the same time. Lissa and Christian had to travel a lot back and forth between Leigh High and the court, which heightened their exposure to strigoi threat, but that was to be expected.

No one said that being the guardian of the next in line to be queen was supposed to be easy.

**The End. Please R&R. You guys are the best =)**


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